


The Recruits

by sophe



Series: Warden Secrets [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: AU, F/M, Grey Wardens, In between canon, M/M, Original Character(s), Political Intrigue, Soldier's Peak, Spanking, Zealotry (Andrastrians), assassination attempt, some sexual content, what if...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-11 18:44:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1176566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophe/pseuds/sophe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catte and Duncan begin to lay the foundation for rebuilding the Order in Ferelden, and they are starting with the recruits and Soldier's Peak.  In the course of rebuilding her chapter, she realizes that Wardens aren't the only ones with secrets.  When the time comes will her duty to the Wardens be supplanted by her growing duty to Ferelden?  -Rated M for language, eventual violence, and general adult content.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did some editing. At first I thought I could do this with an omniscient narrator, but it just came across muddled. Especially after the drabble/one-shots, whatever you want to call them. So basically going back and with a small number of exceptions, changing everything to Catte's POV.

Duncan leaned back in the chair with his feet on the table crossed at his ankles. "We'll have to send a few of the recruits down at the first of every month, but the merchant has promised to organize all our supplies and we won't have to go into the cities. We just need to give him a list."

Catte bit an almond in half chewing on the meat of the nut while she thought about it. "It will cost more, but argues for convenience." 

"There's that, there's also the fact that he's a Dryden." The way Duncan's eyes watched her, she knew that he was waiting for her response. 

"What does he know?" Catte pushed the almonds around in the bowl, looking for one well toasted. When she had returned with Corin, Duncan had shared with her that they had to clear out some minor demons and one who had possessed the body of Sophia Dryden. That the Wardens didn't know about the state of the keep was frightening, but Catte was happy to hear that the recruits performed admirably. They had even gotten most of the keep sort of cleaned up, except for the tower. It looked just slightly better than abandoned.

The tower was off-limits though. Duncan had repeated back the warnings he had given to the recruits and she was happy enough with the content and effectiveness. Now it looked like there was an additional bump to their plans. They hadn't counted on Sophia Dryden's ancestors wanting to associate themselves with her name. It could prove problematic.

"Just that Sophia was a hero who tried to help Ferelden by attempting to overthrow a tyrant." Duncan tilted the chair back and took a drink of ale. "That she failed and was the ultimate reason for the Wardens being tossed didn't seem to be part of the family story."

"Good enough. We should probably keep it that way." Catte looked towards the tower. What a Warden would or wouldn't do for their cause wasn't something that the good people of Ferelden needed to know.

"Warden Secrets?"

"Warden Secrets. Speaking of which, how's our little friend Avernus doing?" She found a choice almond and popped it into her mouth. There had been rumors, never actually confirmed, that a mage from Commander Dryden's time still lived at the keep and that rumor was just one of the reasons Catte wanted it so badly. In private, Duncan had confirmed Avernus's presence and they had slipped out to meet with him her first night back. But it had fallen to Duncan to continue any meetings with the mage.

"He's refusing to work with the healer, but certainly seems to think Serrice has potential." Duncan slowly lowered the chair to the floor. "He says she has talent and enough strength. Combined with the taint, she's a perfect candidate, Catte."

"We'll just wait until after the Joining before we start her full training." Catte wasn't looking forward to that day. "I think we should make Avernus tell her our plans." How do you explain to a mage that everything she was trained to believe was right didn't matter and that everything she had been coerced into believing was wrong was actually ok. 

"Commander, since when were you such a coward. From the tales Corin tells, you single-handedly took down a group of thugs, in a gown no less, have a Prince so enamored with you that you quite possibly are capable of flying, and a Court so confused by you they aren't sure whether to hate you or love you." After Duncan heard the story, he never seemed to let an opportunity to tease her about it pass him by.

Catte rolled her eyes at him, and changed the subject. "I told you that Corin was one of us."

"You did. And I was wrong." Duncan grinned at her. "He's better at lifting than the two of us combined, which is actually pretty scary."

"I am thinking of sending him to the Chantry." She was back to rooting through the almonds, but she kept an eye on him. Wardens didn't send recruits out on tasks that weren't menial and his response or even lack of response was important to her.

"I am almost afraid to ask."

"We need a Templar." She pretended to fixate on the nuts. "He can pick up a copy of their rosters."

"Do you really want to deal with Lyrium withdrawl? Issuing the Right of Conscription to on the Grand Cleric herself might be easier to deal with." His tone was hesitant, but didn't hold any sound of doubt and she relaxed just slightly. 

"We don't need a full Templar, just one who knows some of their skills. We recruit one who the Chantry wouldn't mind relinquishing and we promise not to ask them to share any of their skills with the Order." She had expected to have to make more of an argument. She might be Warden Commander in name and spirit, but she could never shake the need for Duncan's approval.

"You've already made your decision then?" The hesitation was gone, replaced with quiet resignation.

Catte looked into his eyes and smiled.. "Yes. We've always done what's needed to be done, but I want to make sure that we have someone around who can clean up any potential messes."

"So where are we going to send our newest gutter rat?"

"Amaranthine, I don't want to cause any problems with the Couslands. With Highever apparently being our best choice for a recruiting ground, we need to tread lightly." She reached across the table and made a note on a piece of parchment. "We need more mounts and staff. Housekeeper, cook, maybe a family?"

Duncan followed her leap of thought. "I already sent word to Weisshaupt. I told them we needed breeding stock." He smirked at her, "well actually I told them that you were requesting two stallions and three mares for breeding purposes."

Catte carefully scratched out what she had just written down and raised an eyebrow at Duncan while he innocently scratched his beard.

"I still can't believe you left your horse with Maric. He falls off them, you know?" 

"He told me." Catte had been less than forthcoming about her visit to Denerim, but instead of taking the hint, Duncan seemed to take a different approach. He'd drop comments about his own interactions with the King, like he was expecting her to actually fill in the blank spaces for him.

Duncan smirked at her. "You wanted him to have something to remind him of you."

Catte took a drink of wine and grinned. "Can't have him getting distracted by anyone else, can I?"

Duncan looked over his shoulder at the door. "Think they're asleep yet?"

"If they aren't we aren't working them hard enough." Catte stood up from the table and nodded to the door. "Let's go, Avernus gets snippy when he thinks we're ignoring him."

Duncan swung his legs down and groaned when he stood. The room that she had commandeered for her office was warm and cozy and she wasn't relishing leaving its warmth for the cold night air waiting for them on their walk to the tower. 

Duncan looked at the puppy asleep by the fire. "What are we going to do with a dog?"

"I was thinking of giving him to Alistair." Catte shrugged.

"It doesn't work that way, Catling." Duncan wrapped his arm around her waist.

They walked out of the room together. A familiarity with one another made navigating through doors and rooms quietly almost second nature. 

Once out on the bridge Duncan returned to the mundane conversation of daily tasks. "Corin should also get those griffon cloak pins commissioned in Amaranthine. And I was thinking, there's a weaver in Highever who does this shadow thing with threads. What if the outside of our cloaks had a shadow of a griffon?"

Catte shrugged, style wasn't really one of her specialties. Even her formal armor had been made at the suggestion of other Wardens more familiar with the intricacies of presentations at Courts. "We'd have to pay her not to do the same for another. Give them the cloak when recruited and the pin after the Joining?" She heard Duncan make a noise that sounded like one of agreement and took it as such.

"Tomorrow, you go to Highever and we'll send Corin to Amaranthine. I'll work on training and then when you get back we'll start preparations." She couldn't see Duncan's eyebrows raise up over his widened eyes, but she knew the expression well and knew him even better. "It's not like there's anything that says they have to be recruits for a set period of time." A strong wind blew across the bridge with her words and she shivered. She felt Duncan's arm tighten more closely around her and she leaned closer into him.

After what seemed like a forever, they finally made it to the end of the bridge. Catte was trying to push Duncan ahead of her, to get him to open the door when her struggle came to an immediate conclusion. The door swung open, and Avernus stood there with his hands on his hips.

"I got tired of waiting. Now come in, come in. I have something yes?" The old Warden mage spoke quickly, it was like he realized his time was ending and he needed to get every word he could speak out as soon as possible.

Duncan pushed Catte into the tower ahead of him, taking advantage of the opening Avernus provided. It wasn't that the mage frightened her in as much as it was that the mage reminded her of what the Grey Wardens were capable of. She realized, almost sadly, that she must look at Avernus the way everyone else looked at Grey Wardens. They weren't quite willing to dismiss the Grey Wardens out of hand, but they also weren't entirely certain of a Grey Warden's motivation.

"You wanted to see us, Avernus?" Catte couldn't help herself from looking around his chambers. They were frightening, and held reminders of some of his experiments, as he called them, but they still fascinated her – a reminder of what happened when one ignored Duty.

"I think I found something. Only works with Warden blood. A way to use the taint to make you better. Only thing I don't know is how it responds to different Wardens. It gives me something yes, but if you don't have what I have, not sure what it will give you." Avernus rambled on until he saw the two Wardens stare at him in bemusement. "Ahh, here. Drink. Drink." He held out vials of a dark liquid that caused Catte to blanch.

She noted with some satisfaction that Duncan had the same reaction. Catte wrinkled her nose when the vials got closer to her. "No way to cover its smell?" She took a vial and held it between her thumb and forefinger, eyeing it cautiously.

Duncan was holding his vial as far away from him as is arms would allow. "Or its taste?"

"Drink. Drink. Drink. Hurry now. I must make notes." Avernus was staring at them expectantly.

They held the vials closer to their mouths, but still hesitated to drink the contents.

"You first." Duncan tapped her vial with his own in a mock toast.

"You've been a Warden longer, you go first."

"You're the Commander."

"And I can order you to drink it."

"You're both children. Drink." 

Catte decided to ignore Avernus's enthusiasm. She took a breath and brought the vial to her lips. She closed her eyes, tilted her head back and swallowed it as quickly as possible. She opened her eyes and saw Duncan peering at her. "What are you waiting for?"

"For you to fall over." Apparently he was satisfied with her response, or lack of and downed the contents of his vial as well. "Oh, that was just foul." He glared at Avernus. "Really, it would have killed you to have added something to make it a tad less rotten?"

Avernus ignored the rogue's complaints. "Feel different?" A quill hovered above his journal, ready to copy everything.

"Just a strong desire to figure out how to get rid of the taste in my mouth." Catte's whole body was responding to the foul taste.

Avernus grumbled and scurried across the room to a cage. He pulled a squirming rat from it and held it in front of him. "Watch." The mage flicked his hand at the rat. The rodent tensed and actually screamed before dropping dead.

Duncan leaned in to Catte and whispered, "we are never letting him near the puppy."

Catte nodded her head in agreement. "Um, Avernus? What was that?"

"Taint. Was doing research and it was making noise." He tossed the rat into a bucket filled with several other rat corpses. "No magic. Not same thing as magic. Doesn’t use same power. It's from my blood. But not my blood, not blood magic. It's the taint."

"So we just make random gestures and see if something happens?" Duncan asked him.

Catte closed her eyes, simultaneously dreading and knowing the answer.

Avernus shrugged. "If you wish."

Catte and Duncan looked at one another. "In for a copper?" She asked him.

"In for a Silver." Duncan answered.

Initially she felt pretty foolish doing random acts in hopes of seeing a response, but eventually she gave up on dignity. It wasn't like anyone but Avernus was there to see them. Duncan finally flicked out of sight. 

"Holy shit, Catte." His disembodied voice moved much too quickly across the room for him to be hidden. "You have to try this."

As soon as she willed herself into the shadows, she understood. Normally, once hidden, they had to move just a little bit more slowly, like they were moving through water. But that sensation was gone. She could move much more quickly. Not quite as fast as when she wasn't hidden, but still much faster than before. Catte giggled and hopped around the different perches.

"Good good. This is new?" Avernus was clearly excited. "Tell me more. Describe it. All of it."

Catte wasn't watching where she was hopping to and inadvertently kicked over a cage holding a rat. She didn't particularly like rats, in fact she went out of her way to kill them. It was almost an obsessive drive and it was unconscious. The rat broke from the cage and she jumped down, pulling out her dagger to stab the rat to the floor before it could run off. 

She jumped back and into sight, staring at the blade in her hand. Catte knew her daggers as if they were extensions of her body, Duncan's training had instilled it into her very being. She knew the feel of cutting through flesh, how bodies should resist and how her blades felt when coated with a poison. The dagger she struck the rat with was definitely different from what she expected.

"Fuck me."

Duncan and Avernus looked at her. She wiped the dagger clean on a piece of rag she grabbed from a table then held the blade up in front of her face. She studied the edge, the blood groove, even the point. It was completely clean. And then it wasn't. A very slight crimson sheen coated the blade. She almost dropped her dagger. "This is…" Catte couldn't even begin to find the words.

After spending more time in the tower, explaining everything to Avernus that they could, they left. Catte raced Duncan across the bridge back to the main keep while hidden. It was as if it was Satinala and they had been presented with gifts. They were exuberant and their laughter echoed around the valley. The dagger trick was neat, but it was the speed at which they could move that really excited her. Catte could almost see the opportunities Duncan was manufacturing in his mind, and she planned different ways to exploit this new ability. They managed to quiet themselves before slipping back into the keep. They were both too excited to retire to their beds, so they returned to her office. More wine, more beer, and more talking. But this time their conversation had nothing to do with Warden duties. By the end of the evening, Catte had finally shared what really happened during the Court dinner and Duncan told her more stories about Maric in the Deep Roads. She made a note that apparently it was going to be a game of quid pro quo, but she would hopefully be able to adapt to it.

The next morning, when they were all sitting around the table breaking their fast, Catte leaned back in her chair. "Corin, you're going to go to Amaranthine, I have an errand for you to do while Duncan's in Highever."

"Get coin from Catte after you've packed." Duncan looked around the table. "Actually all of you need to have bags ready to go at a moment's notice. After breakfast get a pack ready with the basics. You can always add things like food and money later."

The Warden Commander looked around the table at her recruits and smiled. "Barlin and Eirik. You two get to work on clearing snow from the path this morning." As expected the young men groaned. It was a dreaded chore, but necessary with the winds blowing snow into the path during the night. "Serrice, you are going to spar with Kinnon." The largest of the warriors nodded and the petite mage actually flinched. Catte knew that she wasn't used to sparring. Duncan had told Catte that so far Serrice had worked mostly in a support role, away from any potential direct fighting. That was about to change. Catte turned her attention to the healer. "Sabin, I have a special task for you when their sparring. You need to keep them alive." 

Duncan sipped his coffee to hide his smirk. Catte saw it though and grinned, she was going to run them long and hard, just the way Duncan had when she showed up to be trained. The recruits would come to cherish the times they got to train under Duncan's supervision and dread the mere mention of her possibly running them through exercises. 

"Barlin, Eirik. Dishes." Duncan stood up from the table signaling the others that they should get going with their tasks. "Corin, you should be able to make the ride in a day, but you'll have to stay the night. The rest of you, get geared up after packing."

Catte and Duncan walked into her office. Duncan closed the door behind him. "Please don't kill them before the Joining, Catte."

She just grinned at him. "I promise I won't. Besides, what did you always tell me? 'Feeling like you are dying is not the same as dying.'" She tossed him a coin purse.

"Elves ok?" Duncan bounced the purse in his hand, weighing it.

"I don't care. As long as they keep their mouths shut, I'm happy." She opened the door for the puppy. His little legs didn't allow him to move as quickly as humans could and he was scratching at the door.

"You need to name him soon or he's going to outgrow puppy and we'll have to resort to calling him Dog."

"How about Carim?" She asked coyly and batted her eyelashes.

"Too obvious, Catling. Way too obvious." Their banter was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Enter." Catte slipped behind her desk and Duncan leaned against the wall. She almost rolled her eyes at his rehearsed casualness. 

Corin walked into the office and looked around curiously. "You wanted to see me?"

Catte nodded to an empty chair, and Corin slid into it. Duncan closed the door, shutting out their conversation from any curious recruits.

"We need you to do something else in Amaranthine, which is why you need to spend the night." She waited for him to stop looking between Duncan and herself before continuing. "I need a current roster of Templar recruits from the Chantry." 

Corin's lips pulled back into a wide grin. "That all?"

"Well that and the commission for the cloak pins." She handed over a purse, a parchment with the desired design, and additional parchments, one of which included a dictate sealed by the King allowing the Wardens free roam of Ferelden. "Make sure the gate guards see that top document."

Corin nodded his head. "Yes, Commander."

Duncan cleared his throat, "bag packed?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then go saddle up one of our horses, and get on your way." Duncan opened the door for him. "I don't think I need to remind you that this is work, not a vacation. Don't dally."

Catte watched Corin race from the room with a half-smile. "I'm not going to be happy until there are at least ten of us. I don't like sending anyone out alone." The more senior Wardens would travel alone, if necessary, but Ferelden wasn't safe for them and any Warden traveling alone was a risk she wasn't happy about.

"He'll be fine."

She made a face at Duncan. "I know that. Still doesn't take away from me being nervous about it." She stuck her tongue out at him. "You should be on your way too, Warden."

"Of course, Commander." Duncan smirked at her. 

Catte stood up and grabbed her cloak, wrapping it around her. It was cool in the mountains and she dreaded having to spend the morning outside. She pulled on her gloves and looked down at the puppy. "Lusac?" The puppy didn't look up from the ham bone he was gnawing on. "How about Lus?" That got his attention. She smiled at him, "Lus it is. Come on then, if I have to go outside, so do you." Lus cocked his head to the side and looked at her. "You can walk. The healers did a remarkable job on you." 

Both Serrice and Kinnon were standing in the field they used for sparring. They were covered in sweat from their exertions, but Catte still wasn't satisfied. Sabin had almost fallen over from exhaustion, but she wouldn't let them stop. If she wasn't yelling at Kinnon to fix his form, she was berating Serrice for not throwing everything she had at the warrior. The entire time, she watched Sabin out of the corner of her eyes. The healer was actually holding up a lot better than she expected and she was pleased that she didn't have to guide him with what spells to use. That neither Kinnon nor Serrice had more than a scratch was a testament to his abilities. What interested her the most was that Kinnon and Serrice were protesting, but Sabin wasn't. Even after his knees buckled and Catte asked him if he needed a break, he just shook her off. She finally called it, and it wasn't because of Kinnon or Serrice. Sabin was going to let her drive him into the ground and she had promised Duncan not to kill any of the recruits.

"Serrice, help Kinnon clean his gear. Then the both of you go and help Eirik and Barlin clear the path. Once it's done, come up for lunch." Catte stepped next to Sabin and wrapped an arm around him before he crumbled. 

She led him slowly back into the keep, taking her time at the stairs. Once she finally got him inside, she planted him in front of the fireplace just past the front hall and wrapped her cloak around his shoulders. Catte put a kettle by the fire to boil some water and prepared a mug full of spices and herbs to help with the headache the poor healer was going to have any moment. When she was sure he wasn't going to drop, she hurried to her office and grabbed one of the lyrium potions from the stores. She wasn't certain that he needed it, but it would make him feel a little bit better. She handed him the vial when she returned then busied herself with making a tea for him.

Catte replaced the empty vial in his hands with the mug. "Sabin, you need to tell me when it's too much. I won't think any less of you." She crossed her arms over her chest when he didn't respond. "I'm not a mage, I don't know your limits and I need to trust you to tell me them."

He still wouldn't look at her, but he drank the tea. "Alright."

She couldn't take it anymore. She dropped down in front of him and put her hands on his knees. He was freezing. "Sabin?"

He finally had to look at her. "Yes?"

"Do you think that I will send you back to the Circle if you disappoint me?" She didn't need to hear a response, she saw it. The moment she mentioned the word Circle, his shoulder raised and his body stiffened. Whatever happened there, he was enough to genuinely be frightened of returning to it. "Gods, Sabin, dearling, I promise you, you never have to go back. Ever." She put her finger under his chin and lifted it until he was looking at her. "Do you believe me?"

The healer looked in her eyes, she wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he must have found it because he nodded his head slowly.

They were interrupted by a pitiful howling at the front door. "Crap. I keep on forgetting about him." She ran to the door and opened it for the puppy, who charged in, stopping only for a moment to glare at Catte before barreling into the keep. 

When she returned to Sabin he was almost asleep in the chair. She took the mug, satisfied that he had at least drank most of it, and set it down. Then she pulled him up and helped him into Duncan's room. The Warden wouldn't be there that night and Sabin needed to rest without the noise of the barracks they had put the recruits in. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was sound asleep, and she pulled the blanket up over him. She left him only to get her accounts and a book from her office. She stayed with him until lunch, watching that his sleep didn't turn into something worse. At one point, when his breathing was at its shallowest, she almost went to Avernus for help. Fortunately, it was probably just a dream, because his breathing soon returned to normal.

She finally let him rest alone during lunch when she sat down at the table with the others. The recruits kept up with their questions about his absence and what had happened before she finally relented under their assault.

"Alright, alright." She looked at Serrice, "what's the Warden Motto?"

The little mage smoothed her dark hair behind her ear, lifted her chin and proudly responded, "In war victory. In peace vigilance. In death sacrifice."

"Good, Kinnon, what does the first mean?"

The young fighter grinned, his bright red hair and freckled skin belying his age. "We win wars."

Catte played with the stew in her bowl, pushing it around. "And we fight many wars do we?" Kinnon blushed, and she looked around the table at the three warriors and the mage. "Figure out what the first part means and tell me when you have the answer." She returned to her stew. It wasn't great food, but it was food. She let her mind wander while the recruits chatted on. 

Since returning to the Keep over a week ago, she had checked the mirror shard daily. She hadn't really expected him to call for her again so quickly, but she couldn't completely ignore the feelings of disappoint that washed through her whenever she looked at the blank glass. With a sigh, she pushed her feelings aside and stood up. 

"Kinnon and Serrice, dishes. Then hit the stables, clean them out and the tack. Once that done, head to the cellars and start clearing away the crap." With a grin she turned to Eirik and Barlin. "You two, suit up and meet me outside." She wanted to test out the limitations of her movement while hidden and the best way to do that was with two brash, overconfident, knights in training trying to stop her.

When Catte had finally called an end to their sparring session, the men looked as exhausted as Sabin. The problem with sparring constantly was that you never actually learned how to fight really well with someone. It was impossible to just train someone how to work within a team, and no matter how many commanders had tried, none had succeeded. There were two of them, and yet neither had gotten a single score on her. Catte on the other hand had "killed" them twenty times over.

"Enough, clean your gear then yourselves. I'll see you at dinner." She trotted back into the Keep to check on Sabin and when she found him sitting up in bed with Lus curled up on the open book on his lap, she couldn't help but smile.

"He hasn't moved and I don't have the heart to wake him. I've read the same page for a while now, Commander."

"Anything interesting? Or did he decide to fall asleep on really boring page?" She sat down in the chair.

"I suppose it's interesting." Sabin hesitated a moment, as if he was debating something in his mind. Apparently he made his decision and looked at her. "You said you didn't know anything about mages, but what do you know about healers?"

Catte shrugged her shoulders "I would have been dead a few times over if one wasn't around."

"Are you familiar with spirit healers?" Sabin looked back down at the book.

"Listen, a healer is a healer is a healer to me. If your do your job you could call yourself the king of Mabaris for all I care." He might not have had the heart to move Lus, but she was under no such compulsions. She picked up the puppy and put him on the ground while speaking.

Sabin grinned, "Commander, I was training to be a spirit healer. We use the spirits from the fade to help us."

If he had expected her to be angry, he was disappointed. "Like I said, you do what you need to."

"Commander, I never finished my training, but here, after this morning, I think I can."

He had Catte's attention. She leaned down, resting her forearms on her knees and stared at him. "The Veil is think here. Duncan told me about what you had to clear out of here before taking residence."

"Commander, the Fade doesn't just house demons. If it did, don't you think all of our dreams would be corrupted, bordering on nightmares?" Sabin was presenting her with a very interesting proposition, even if he thought he was only sharing information. "The spirits here are strong and it's possible to create relationships with them."

Catte bit the tip of her tongue as she thought about his words. If she said yes, it was all the more reason to pull a Templar into their ranks, if she said no she was crippling the Order. She knew her decision, even before she thought about it, but there was still a part of her wishing Duncan was around to walk her through it. She already knew what Avernus would say, and the First Warden, hell even the most junior of Wardens would tell her the same. "Keep doing what you're doing." She stood up and patted his shoulder. "You're a Warden recruit, Sabin. The tenets of the Chantry or Circle aren't your concern anymore."

"Yes, Commander." Sabin nodded his head and returned to his book.

She paused at the door and looked back at him, "Just don't exhaust yourself again, Sabin. I don't plan on making a practice of giving you afternoon offs." She smiled at him. A genuine smile, one that reached her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that the chapters were really long and could be broken up better. Some broke apart better than others, but I think that for the most part they still flow.

She felt arms wrapping around her waist and whiskers tickling her neck, waking her from sleep.

"There's someone in my bed." Duncan nipped at the tender skin just above her shoulder.

Catte sighed and turned to face him, "Sabin's been working hard, figured he could use an undisturbed sleep." She kissed his collar bone and wrapped her arms around him before pressing her head against his chest and closing her eyes, intent on returning to sleep.

Duncan tightened his arms around his shoulders, holding her close to him and followed her into the fade.

Lus woke Catte up in the morning, whining to go out. She climbed over Duncan, somehow managed not to wake him and quickly got dressed. She snatched up the puppy and slipped out of the room and headed out of the keep. The sun was barely up and it was cold. She stamped her feet while Lus took his sweet time smelling each spot. Like one patch of dirt was different than another. She was about to turn in when she heard a thumbing sound coming from the training field. Catte slipped into the shadows, hiding away from sight, and followed the sound. When she started her investigation, she never expected to see the sight ahead of her. Kinnon was blindfolded and beating on a practice dummy with a wooden practice sword. Upon closer scrutiny, she realized that the sword was covered with charcoal dust and his movements weren't random. He was actually going through some sort of planned movements. What really threw her off was that he wasn't using a sword and shield, he was using a sword for two hands.

She slipped away, not wishing to interrupt him. She kept her thoughts on why these recruits didn't seem to be either willing or able to share anything with her. She wondered if they had even approached Duncan. It wasn't like the two Warders were completely unapproachable. Sabin was scared to tell her that he worked with spirits, Kinnon never bothered to mention that a shield wasn't really his strength. Gods, no wonder their practices had been so miserable. Before she thought better of it, she barged into her bedroom.

"Duncan." She roughly pulled the blanket off of him and dropped Lus on his bare stomach.

The Warden opened one eye slowly and looked at her. "Do I want to know?"

Catte threw herself into the bed with him and covered her face with her hands. "We need to start over."

Duncan shook his head. It was an attempt to free his mind from sleep, but try as he might he had no idea what Catte was going on about, or what had gotten her into such a tiff. Since she had returned from Denerim, they hadn't shared a bed, but he didn't think she could be upset about the previous night. He might not have been dressed when he slipped into bed with her, but he didn't sleep with her. The recruits appeared to all be alive, so that wasn't the problem either. The Keep was still standing and Avernus wasn't running amok killing rats, Duncan was at a loss.

Duncan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Catling, you need to slow down a bit. I haven't been here, go back to the beginning."

"Sabin is scared that we'll send him back to the Circle, Kinnon uses a two-handed sword, and to be honest, I have no idea about Serrice, Eirik and Barlin." She paused for a moment and furrowed her brow. "Corin's the only one who I know anything about and I sent him off on an errand that could possibly end with him in a dungeon." Her hands were back covering her face. "I'm a bad Warden Commander."

Duncan moved the puppy to the floor and pulled Catte to him. He wrapped himself around her body, shielding her from every imaginary fear she could summon. "They're scared because they don't know us, they just know that we were kicked out and since there hasn't been a blight in centuries, they don't see the point of us. No one taught them." He pushed her hands away from her face and lifted her chin until she was looking at him. "And you aren't a bad commander, you haven't done this before. My duty isn't to you, Catte, it's to the Wardens. If I really thought you were a risk, I would have sent word to the First Warden and we would have you removed." He kissed her forehead, soothing away the remaining anxieties.

"What are we going to do?" Her words were muffled by his chest.

"We wait for Corin to get back, take 'em down to Deep Roads and see if they manage to swim."

"In for a copper?" She asked him.

"In for a silver. " He responded. Duncan realized that he wasn't going to go back to sleep, he also figured sex wasn't going to happen either since she didn't exactly respond to him the night before. That only left getting up out of bed and starting their day. "Why don't we spar with them today?"

Duncan extracted himself from her and slipped out of bed. He pulled on his clothes he had been wearing when he arrived. He rubbed the back of his neck. He needed a bath, he needed to eat, and he needed to think. Not necessarily in that order. Before he left the room he looked down at her sprawled body on the bed. "I found a cook and three additional servants. The cook will also act as the house keeper. We should probably get the rest of the living quarters straightened up before they arrive."

She sighed dramatically and swung herself up and out of the bed. "Let's make 'em clean today. It will give us time to plan and give Sabin a rest." She walked over to him and smiled at him. "Get washed up and changed, I'll fix something for us to eat."

By the time the rest of the recruits had straggled into the kitchen Catte and Duncan were finishing their breakfast. Catte didn't cook very often, but she liked to and so food was pretty much piled up on the table. While she was cooking she forgot that the recruits didn't share the same appetite as the Wardens, and belatedly realized that it was probably too much. But she shrugged it off, figuring she could bring the leftovers to Avernus.

Duncan cleared his throat and looked around the table. "We're cleaning house today." He looked around the keep, they had been there for nearly a month and yet it still looked like it had been abandoned. "Time to make this place look as though it is the Warden's Keep."

Catte lifted her chin towards Serrice, "when you all have finished eating, put together a very large plate for food and then come and get me." She ignored Duncan's raised eyebrow and went to her office. There were always books that needed to be balanced. Maintaining even a small Warden outpost wasn't an inexpensive venture and if she wasn't on top of the expenditures, they would get away from her.

When Serrice came to her office, Catte was sitting on the ground inventorying their potion cabinet and trying to figure out the minimums they would have to maintain. She was actually happy to be interrupted. Catte got to her feet and took the plate. "Grab one of those cloaks." She balanced the plate on one hand while taking her own advice.

Serrice was clearly confused, but she didn't ask any questions. Once she fastened the cloak, she took the plate back. Catte looked over her shoulder, "Lus, go find Duncan." She didn't think Avernus would do anything to the puppy, but it was just better if he wasn't tempted. "Come on, Serrice. Follow me." Catte led her out towards the bridge and the tower that had been off limits to the recruits.

"Have you thought about the war we fight?" Catte didn't bother to look back at her.

"Is it the Blights?" Serrice hurried after her. Her legs weren't nearly as long.  
"Closer. Again, the key is that it isn't Wars. If the War in our motto was to be Blights then it would be Wars still." Catte wasn't about ready to give her the answers. She had learned as a little girl that the best way to learn things was to figure them out on your own. But that didn't mean she couldn't give the mage help.

The mage was silent, thinking about Catte's statement, as they crossed the bridge. They were nearly to the end when she blurted out her thoughts. "We're still at war."

"Good. The War, which I assure you, we will do everything in our power to win, will continue until the last Archdemon has been slain. We know that there are three more Archdemons and the Wardens also know their locations. We're fairly certain that the darkspawn are close to discovering the one in Ferelden." Catte stopped and turned around to look at Serrice. "A blight is coming, and we are here to try to prevent it from killing too much of Fereldent before more Wardens can get here. It's very possible that while you might be here to see the start of it, you will not see its end. But as long as one Grey Warden remains to pass on our knowledge, we will have our victory in this war." Catte turned back around and continued across the bridge. "Now, think about what Peace is."

Catte knocked on the massive door before opening it. "Avernus? I brought a friend for you." She ushered Serrice through the doorway and kept a reassuring hand on the mage's shoulder.

Avernus scurried over to them, "Commander!" He seemed to be genuinely excited to see her. "I've made copies of my notes, yes? Send them off to the others, yes? They should be able to duplicate the recipe." He paused for a moment as if a new thought had invaded the current flotsam floating around his mind. "Unless they are idiots. Recipe is not idiot proof."

Catte smiled at him, "Thank you Avernus. Warden Avernus, this is Warden recruit Serrice. She is a mage."

Avernus looked at the girl, he sniffed the air around her and then snatched the plate. "For me?" He didn't wait for an answer and scampered back to his work table. Despite being older than dirt and having his life artificially extended, he still had a Warden's appetite.

"I want you to teach her, Avernus." Catte called out across the room.

The old man stopped mid chew and stared at Catte. "Are you certain, Commander?"

"In War Victory, Avernus. War is brewing and we will be victorious. Teach her."

Avernus nodded his head slowly, "very well, Commander."

Catte turned to Serrice. "You will come here every morning after breakfast until Avernus dismisses you." Before the young mage could protest Catte walked out of the tower. She was already in for the copper,


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made some edits - nothing too significant, but shifted to a strictly Catte POV

Catte was sitting at her desk when Duncan found her. She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. She had been expecting him earlier, expecting him to talk her out of taking Serrice to Avernus. "What?"

"I didn't say anything, Catling." Duncan raised his hands in surrender. "The boys are cleaning up the rooms. I have them focused on the bedrooms first." He took some reports from the pile on her desk and settled down to read them. Catte hated reading the reports, it wasn't that they bored her, it was that she had trouble reading between the lines and wasn't good at filtering out the information from the misinformation. It was, however, something Duncan was good at and so he read them for her.

They worked together in silence. Occasionally, when the fire had burned down, one would get up and add some wood or when the pot filled with their precious coffee was nearing its end one would add more grounds and water. In their comfortable silence, Catte didn't recognize that the rest of the keep was as silent.

A gentle knock at the door shook them from their tasks. Without looking up from the report, Duncan answered it, "enter."

A slightly road weary Corin slipped into the room. He handed a packet to Catte and threw a near full purse onto the table. "Commander?"

Both Catte and Duncan were looking at him, but Catte's fingers were absently stroking the packet that held a list of Templar names. "Hmm?"

"Um, why are the other recruits just standing outside your office?

Catte's brow furrowed. "What?"

Corin looked over his shoulder and out the door. "Yeah, they're just kinda standing there staring at the door. Is this some Warden trick you're teaching them?"

Duncan was already up from his chair and looking out the door. "He's right. And now they are all trying to look anywhere but at me." Duncan looked back at Catte and grinned. "I didn't think that making them clean would actually be cause for a revolt."

Catte just shook her head in disbelief. Duncan clearly wasn't going to help, so she stood up and walked out of her office into the line of four recruits. Sure enough, each of them were doing their best not to look at her, Duncan or the door, and managing to keep their gazes as far away from them as possible.

"And why have you stopped cleaning?" She put her hands on her hips. "Just because we will have some help soon doesn't mean we live a pampered life." She squashed down the little voice in her head telling her that she sounded just like the first Warden Commander she had trained under before taking the Joining.

The recruits remained silent.

Very well, she thought. Two, er five could play at this game. She matched their silence, but her one concession was that she moved her stare across their faces, increasing their discomfort in very small but decidedly satisfying increments. Unfortunately patience wasn't exactly one of her strengths. She finally gave up and threw her arms in the air in frustration. "If one of you doesn't speak soon, you will have to sweep snow from the ground until the entire front of the mountain is clear!"

Sabin finally broke. "We found something." He pushed Kinnon forward who stumbled and brought his arms in front of himself. In his hands was a breastplate and inside the breastplate was what looked to be the remains of a human.

"Oh." Catte looked at the breastplate, at the griffon hammered out in gold, along its front. And then she looked at the skeleton and the hair still sticking to the scalp. "Ohhhh" She took a step back as she realized what he was holding. "Well" She paused. She had no idea what to even say.

Duncan saved her. "So that's Sophia. I was wondering what had happened." He also saved Kinnon and took the breast plate, with the bones rattling inside.

The ground was too frozen to dig any kind of grave for the remains, and despite her actions causing the expulsion of Wardens from Ferelden, she was still a Grey Warden. Catte placed her thumb and middle finger on the outside of her eyes and pressed down. She didn't think it would help, but she really had no idea how to handle this. In the end, they found a small room in the cellars and laid her bones out in the most respectable way they could manage.

Catte and Duncan said a few quiet words and closed the door. Then Catte locked it. She grinned at Duncan with a shrug of her shoulders. "Better safe."

Corin had taken the breastplate. He said he had plans for it and since it was armor for a Commander, a Commander should wear it. Catte had let him, mostly because she had still be preoccupied about how to handle the remains of a nearly annulled Warden.

Somehow Duncan had got the rest of the recruits back to cleaning. Then Duncan and Catte were back in her office and as much as it was possible, life returned to normal in their home.


	4. Chapter 4

The recruits were used to hearing their daily tasks at breakfast and now that they had someone to cook and a few others to help with keeping the keep livable, their tasks almost always revolved around sparring of some sort. Except for Serrice. Her task was never mentioned, but she always left after breakfast and returned sometime before their evening meal. On this day though, the recruits were pleasantly surprised. It was the first of the month and Catte was sending them all down to meet the merchant and collect their supplies.

Catte grinned across the table at Duncan. The recruits couldn't hide their enthusiasm and it was almost infectious. They raced away from the table, excited to start the trip down the path with an empty cart, not fully realizing that they would eventually be bringing a full cart uphill.

"Bring Lus with you, he needs some exercise!" Catte called to their retreating backs.

Duncan turned to Serrice, "how are your lessons coming?"

She didn't speak much about what she was learning, but Duncan had noted that there was a slight change to her. Initially, when she had first been recruited, Serrice had seemed to be almost arrogant, but either Avernus or what Avernus was teaching her was instilling her with modesty.

"There is much to learn. And Avernus is a good teacher."

Duncan lifted a brow at her response and looked at Catte. "Yes, well he's probably hungry. "

Serrice heard the dismissal and gathered a plate for her teacher before racing out of the room. Hurrying to the tower as quickly as the other recruits were hurrying from the keep.

Catte grabbed a cup of her favorite coffee and nodded towards the office. Duncan sighed, grabbed a piece of toasted bread and a cup of the coffee as well before following her. Once they had returned to regular training, the two Wardens had little time for administrative things.

Catte had the roster from the Chantry spread out on the desk. What little time that they did find was spent crossing names off the list. It wasn't that they were looking for the perfect Warden Templar, it was that they were looking for the ones who wouldn't be. It was getting more and more difficult to cross names off the list and usually ended with them arguing.

"We need to do this and do this soon, Duncan." She didn't remind him that they couldn't put off the joining any longer and that the more Serrice learned from Avernus, the more they needed to have a Templar near them.

"Alright, let's start from the beginning. At least eighteen, but not yet a full Templar." Their eyes moved over the pages. Every name that wasn't crossed off belonged to a young man eighteen and older. "I know you disagree, but I don't think he can be an orphan."

Catte sighed. This was the crux of most of their debates. She didn't feel strongly either way, but she wasn't about ready to wipe off three quarters of the remaining names without a lot of convincing. She was close to conceding, and Duncan knew that, which only served to push him further.

"Come on, Catte. We can't take someone who is grateful for the Chantry. They won't ever be loyal."

"But we can't know that, some of the orphans might resent the Chantry." It was her usual response and normally it shut Duncan up.

"What are you going to do? Ask them?" He finally came up with a counter-argument that just might convince her.

Catte stared at him. She didn't say anything and Duncan could sense that she was close. He didn't push her though. Catte needed to be the one to make this decision. He simply returned her stare. Finally, after several very long minutes, Catte picked up a quill and started scratching names off the roster.

They had finally narrowed the list down to ten possible recruits. They needed only one, but with ten to choose from, they were more likely to find one who would be able to survive the Joining. Duncan was starting to make arrangements for the recruitment trip when they both looked up at the shouting outside the door.

There was no knock, no preamble of respect, the door crashed open, slamming hard against the wall. Corin stood in the doorway panting. Catte noted that he looked at Duncan and not at her, but before she could say anything the recruit rasped out the message that had been so important to defy basic courtesy. "They took Sabin." The mages name came out as a wail.

Catte jumped to her feet. "What! Who?"

"Templars. We tried to stop them, but they said he ran from the Circle."

The three warriors were right behind him, as out of breath and from the looks of it, they had tried to fight to keep Sabin with them.

Catte's eyes narrowed dangerously. Duncan had seen that look once before, at Redcliffe Castle when she put together the rumors of Alistair's treatment and the presence of Isolde. He knew better than to intervene. Catte was possessive and when someone took her things she didn't respond well. Even as a child.

"I want everyone in full armor. We ride through Highever and grab the cloaks then we go to the Circle." She strode from the office, past the recruits and out of the Keep towards the Tower.

Duncan realized her intent. "Come on, follow me."

Duncan's face was emotionless. If Catte's anger frightened the recruits, Duncan's impassive countenance terrified them. He normally joked with them, sure he was sarcastic and sometimes his humor was scathing, but he was never grim. Without any thoughts of questioning or defying him, the recruits filed behind him. When they entered the tower they even managed to hide their surprise at finding both Serrice and an old Mage there.

"Do we have enough blood for a Joining?" Catte stared across the room at Avernus.

The old mage nodded his head slowly. Conviction was something all Warden Commanders shared. He understood immediately from her tone that she would never hear any of the protests about letting the recruits earn the right to Join. "Come, Serrice. Another lesson." His normal babbling ceased.

The mages worked quietly, almost solemnly, together. Avernus guided Serrice through the incantation, letting her magic pour into the chalice that held the precious blood of an archdemon. He added darkspawn blood and gestured for Serrice to start again. The other recruits stared open mouthed. Whatever they expected the Joining to be, this was the furthest thing from their imagination. 

Avernus spoke quietly at first as he held the chalice up and out. "Join us, brothers and sisters."

Catte and Duncan joined their words with his, and all three Wardens spoke in unison. "Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you."

Avernus held the chalice out for Serrice. She stared into his eyes, trusting the old mage completely. She placed her hands over his, but before drinking she spoke quietly. "In war victory. In peace vigilance. In death sacrifice." She placed her lips around the chalice and drank. With a scream of pain she clutched at her throat and fell to the ground.

Duncan was already moving towards her body. He checked over her and looked up at Catte nodding his head. She was alive.

Avernus held the chalice out to Catte. She walked across the floor and took it from him. She turned to face the remaining recruits. "Come forward."

They stared at her, but never considered disobeying her command. The four men walked to her. By the time they reached her, Serrice was coming to. Avernus took Duncan's place and comforted his apprentice. Duncan returned to Catte's side.

She held the chalice out to Corin first. Without thought, he repeated Serrice's words and drank from the cup. Duncan was there to catch him before he hit the ground. Catte swallowed and stared at Duncan until he looked up and nodded his head. Kinnon was next, and just like Serrice and Corin before him, he stated the motto, but when he collapsed there was no screaming. Catte was certain that he hadn't wanted it badly enough, that he hadn't survived, but Duncan looked up after checking on the fallen warrior and nodded his head. She moved down the line to Barlin. And while he spoke the motto, his voice lacked the same confidence. She knew even before Duncan shook his head. The young recruit did not make it through the joining. When she stepped in front of Eirik she noticed that Duncan was ready with his dagger. When a recruit died during the Joining it tended to cause the others to have second thoughts. Eirik had none. His utterance of the motto was louder and even stronger than the others. When he drank, Catte was certain of his success.

She looked around Avernus's tower, at her former recruits, at their sheer will pushing them to their feet. She was proud. "Welcome brothers and sister. You may now call yourself Wardens."

"They need to eat." Duncan looked at her.

"Go to the kitchens and eat to your fill. But we will leave before the hour, so eat fast." With the dismissal she turned to Avernus. She needed just one more thing from him.

The newly joined Wardens supported one another as they left the tower. Only Barlin's body remained on the floor. None of the Wardens wanted to look at their fallen friend, none wanted a reminder of what could have been their fate.

Catte didn't speak until the door closed behind her. "Will a vial survive a trip to the Circle?"

Avernus raised his busy eyebrows. "It won't be as potent, no. And it's possible that the Joining wouldn't be completed that it would just infect."

Catte clenched her hands into fists. She couldn't ask the old man to come with them, but if she was going to be able to free Sabin from the Circle, she needed him.

"Commander?"

She looked up at him, surprised to see his normally rheumy eyes clear and blue. "Yes?"

"Serrice can do it. She is very good. Better than I was at her age. Give her your trust and she will complete the ritual." He was putting together the ingredients. Three separate vials, one of lyrium, one of darkspawn blood, and one of archdemon blood placed inside of small pouch. He handed it to her. "She will also tear the tower down if you let her. Her time in the tower was not pleasant. Hold her back, teach her restraint." His bony hand squeezed her hand tightly. "And come back, Commander. It's possible that I might miss you if you didn't."

She smiled at him. His words were about Serrice, but they were intended for her. She wasn't sure if it was his age, or that he had wormed himself into a special place in her heart, but she hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She whispered and fought back tears.

Avernus returned her hug and patted her back. "You are a good Commander, Warden. Do not ever doubt that."


	5. Chapter 5

Catte stood in front of her mirror, admiring the armor. Apparently Corin had inherited his aunt's talent because he was responsible for her new armor. It was black leather, but instead of revealing her curves it accentuated her strength.

The neckline was modest, going up to and around her neck, but embellished with pieces of silverite cannibalized from the found armor. The gold griffons covered her chest, but wrapped around to the sides. Even the legs and boots were embellished with silverite. Upon closer inspection she realized that the embellishments were meant to resemble feathers. She would never be mistaken for the King's Whore in this armor. She smiled at her reflection. Turning on her heel she walked out of her room and into the main hall. 

Catte looked over her Wardens and smiled. "Let's go teach the Chantry a lesson about Grey Wardens, shall we?" She didn't wait for a response, just charged out towards the stables. 

Duncan just shrugged and followed after her. "You heard the Commander."

It only took a short time for them to be mounted and ready to ride. Catte turned in the saddle to look back at them. "These are Warden horses. We will not be making camp at night, but we will stop to give them a rest. We will get to Highever when it's night, Kinnon and Eirik?" She waited for their nod, "You might have to get us through the gate."

And then without warning, she was off. They traveled at a lope which seemed to swallow up the land. Serrice rode immediately behind her, followed by Kinnon and Eirik riding side by side and at the end, Duncan and Corin. 

Eventually Serrice rode up next to Catte and spoke quietly. "Commander?"

"Yes, Serrice?" Catte's gaze remained on the road ahead, almost wanting there to be someone to challenge her, someone she could fight.

"Did you, did we do the Joining to protect me?"

Catte took a breath, "not just you, Serrice. All of you."

When the silence became unbearable, Serrice dropped back. The Warden Commander was not the same woman she remembered sitting around the table or even drilling them during spars. Serrice stared at the back of Catte's head. This was the Warden Commander of Ferelden, and she realized that she was seeing her for the first time. It actually frightened her enough to realize that she hoped to never be in a position where Catte's ire would be focused on her.

Despite the silence ahead of them, Duncan and Corin spoke quietly with one another. Through a silent agreement, the topics only covered their trade. Best places to hit a target to incapacitate and best kill spots. Corin was learning how to hide himself like Catte and Duncan and started practicing in the saddle, eventually Duncan joined in and they entertained one another by jumping in and out of sight. It passed the time and kept Duncan's thoughts away from the destruction that Catte was about ready to bring down on the Chantry.

As soon as she made the decision to do the joining without making the recruits look for darkspawn blood themselves, he knew. Avernus knew as well. He could see it in the old mage's eyes. She had made a rash decision because she needed an army, no matter how small it was. And the only reason for Catte to need an army was because she was about to grind, not just one person, but an entire organization under her boot. It was a chilling thought. It would also be a potent lesson for all of Ferelden. One did not say no to the Warden Commander without repercussions.

Catte was true to her word, not letting them stop to rest except for the occasional stops to water the horses. She made them eat in their saddles and didn't allow them to walk until it was dusk. And the only reason was to prevent injury to the horses. At one point, before it got too dark, Catte made them stop to strap feed bags to their mounts bridles so the horses could eat and keep moving. Corin and Serrice would be sore, but at least Kinnon and Eirik had enough training while working for knighthood to not share the same fate. By the time they reached the gates of Highever, the sober group was ready for a break.

Kinnon rode forward until he was abreast with Catte. "The Warden Commander of Ferelden and her Wardens require entry."

At first the guards looked like they would protest, but once they recognized Kinnon they relented. After a quiet conversation with Catte, the large man had started using a two-handed sword. The massive pommel rose above his shoulder and one of the guardsman nodded at Kinnon, "Got yourself a new weapon?"

Kinnon grinned at him. "Nope, just reclaimed an old skill." He had never been good with a sword and shield, but the men-at-arms at Highever insisted that using anything other than a sword and shield was akin to blasphemy.

They walked their horses in through the gates. The market was vacant, as was to be expected, so they just sat on their horses. The newly joined Wardens said nothing. Catte's expression hadn't changed since she had first heard that the Templars had taken Sabin.

Duncan handed coins to Eirik, "go to the weaver, tell her that we need the fabric for the cloaks if it's ready. Also, ask for shears and needle and thread." He raised an eyebrow at the young man. "Don't haggle. Give her what she asks for in payment."

Eirik nodded his head and dismounted. Leaving his horse with Kinnon he ran off.

Duncan looked at Catte, "Bryce might have heard something."

She nodded her head and rode up to the castle doors. Duncan followed her, but not before he told the other Wardens to stay. They dismounted and climbed the stairs. Duncan was familiar enough in Highever that the guards opened the doors, thinking he was expected and that the Teyrn had simply forgotten to pass on the message.

They stepped into the castle, and while Duncan hesitated, Catte didn't. She stormed into the hall, barely stopping long enough to tell a guard to find the Teyrn. Duncan hurried after her and grabbed her bicep, spinning her around to face him. "Catling." His voice was harsh, despite the term of endearment he used.

"They took him, Duncan. They just took him. Do they have so little respect that they will just take what is so clearly not theirs?"

"They have no reason to respect us," he pulled her closer to him, so that he could speak softly enough for her to hear him. "And offending the one noble in this land who does respect us is not a good start. You have a king, I have a Teyrn. Do not embarrass me, Catling." His eyes were as hard as hers. She might be the Warden commander, but he was senior and he didn't need to add that the King was as much a friend to him as the Teyrn. Catte was just a pretty gift to keep him happy and compliant.

She took a breath and closed her eyes, willing herself to focus her anger at those who deserved it and no others. Duncan saw her change and released her. Just in time it seemed since Bryce Cousland had entered the room. Duncan glanced at Bryce and knew he had seen their conversation and waited for it to end before entering.

"Duncan?" The Teyrn crossed the room quickly. "What's wrong? What happened to bring you here?"

"We're looking for Templars, Bryce, they decided that a mage we recruited had run from the Circle." Duncan explained before Catte could respond. "Have you heard of any Templars passing this way, perhaps returning to the Circle with a mage?"

Bryce shook his head, "No, but one moment." He waved a guardsman to him and spoke quietly. The guardsman ran off with a quick salute. "He's going to ask the Captains, see what they know." He looked between Catte and Duncan. "I promise you, whatever they know, they will share."

Catte bowed her head, "thank you."

Before any more could be asked, a little voice shrieked from the hallway. "Warden Commander!" It was followed by the uneven running sounds of little feet and little legs of the Teyrn's daughter who then threw herself around Catte's leg.

Catte couldn't stop herself from smiling and patting the top of the girl's head. With a pang of guilt she realized that Elissa was close to Alistair's age and swooped down to pick her up. "I believe that I might have a present for you." She looked over at Bryce, who nodded his head indulgently.

"You're all shiny now." Elissa was looking at her armor. "I like it." She giggled while poking at the silverite. She placed her hands on Catte's cheeks and looked at her face, "You're very pretty Warden Commander. Are all Warden Commander's pretty? Can I be a Warden Commander when I grow up?" 

For that brief moment, when Catte and Elissa locked eyes and Catte could see inside of her, she knew that she had an answer to Elissa's question. She also knew that it wasn't an answer the Teyrn would appreciate. She shook away the feeling and continued with her task.

Catte carried her outside to her horse, put her down, and reached into her saddlebag. When she held her hand out to Elissa she had a squirming and very annoyed puppy in her hand. Elissa squealed and snatched the puppy before the gift could be taken back. With an elongated thank you, the little girl ran back into the castle. Catte hurried after her, schooling her face into complete innocence in preparation for the expected glares from the two men in the Hall.

Duncan lifted an eyebrow, "he's been there the entire time?"

"I couldn't just leave him. And you yourself said, what are we going to do with a dog." Catte looked down at the very happy little girl and smiled. "I finally figured out the answer."

"Does he have a name?" Elissa danced around with the puppy who had stopped squirming to cover the little girl's face with licks.

"I called him Lus, but you can choose a better name for him." Catte noticed that the guardsman had returned and was waiting respectively.

Bryce turned Elissa around and pushed her towards the door. "Go show Fergus and your mother your puppy."

Elissa was only too happy to oblige and skipped out of the hall, holding the puppy close to her chest. The Teyrn waved the guardsman over.

"My Lord, they are here, staying at the hostel." The guardsman backed away as quickly as he spoke.

Again, Duncan spoke before Catte could interject. "Bryce, I hate to ask this of you. It will get messy and you will be caught in the middle."

Teyrn Cousland looked at Catte, even though he was responding to Duncan. "The Warden Commander can do what she needs to do. I may be in the middle, but I know where my King stands, and I stand behind him."

For the first time since Corin had barged into her office Catte was at peace. "Thank you, Teyrn." She nodded her head and turned around to leave.

"Duncan?"

The Warden looked at the Teyrn.

"I will have rooms prepared. They will be waiting for you whenever you need them." He squeezed Duncan's shoulder. "She doesn't just have enemies with the Chantry. Watch her back, Duncan."

"I'm trying." Duncan shrugged helplessly at him, "she just doesn't make it terribly easy."

"Go, I need to wrangle Mother Mallol before she can be pulled into this mess." Bryce patted Duncan's shoulder.

Duncan followed the Teyrn's advice and followed after Catte. They didn't bother to mount their horses, instead they led them back to the group, planning their assault.

"How good is Corin at hiding?" Catte questioned him.

"Good enough, I'd trust him to be able to move around a battlefield."

Catte nodded her head. "Then we send him in with a vial so that Sabin and perform the Joining. Right now the Templars are at an advantage, he isn't a full Warden yet."

"Serrice is capable?"

"Avernus said she was. And he's not one to give compliments where they aren't due."

Duncan frowned, "the Templars will sense magic."

"Yes, and we will be the distraction. If we stand in front of them, they can't accuse us of trickery."

They returned to the group with the plan laid out. Catte was pleased to find them working on their cloaks. Corin was guiding them through the process and the results weren't nearly as bad as she expected.

Kinnon looked up, blushing behind his freckles. "Commander, I think Corin missed his calling. Surely he's better with a needle and thread then those daggers he likes so much."

The others held their breath, not sure whether she was the Warden Commander or Catte. "He does seem to be particularly good at design, doesn't he? Perhaps he should design our armor." She winked at Kinnon. "But he might put you in blue and white silks."

Duncan stepped up behind her. "With big blousy sleeves."

"Mock all you want. But I don't have holes in my clothes." Corin bit a piece of thread off and threw a cloak to Catte.

"Nicely done." The cloak was designed to attached to her shoulders and not be pinned around her neck. With Duncan's help she fastened into place. "Corin, you are entirely too good at this."

"Mock away, Commander, but when you come to me because something is torn I may not be able to find my needle and thread."

Serrice pursed her lips and looked carefully at him. "Corin. You have a needle and thread?"

Eirik couldn't resist. "He has a basket full of threads and needles and other things."

"Aunt Feritta wanted to make sure that I would be prepared for anything."

Catte took pity on him. "Alright, finish up with the cloaks." She glanced at Duncan, "how far from the hostel is the tavern?"

"Far enough."

"Then we go to the tavern for some food and a little bit of a conspiracy."

Corin tossed another cloak at Duncan before looking over the other Wardens' cloaks with a critical eye. Catte helped Duncan with his cloak and frowned slightly. Duncan's cloak had a hood. While she was smoothing the fabric over his shoulders she leaned in and whispered to Duncan.

"He really is too good at this."

"Shhh, it's one less expense for you." Duncan smirked.


	6. Chapter 6

They sat around the table, the younger Wardens stared at Catte in disbelief.

Corin finally spoke up, "you do realize that this can fail at so many different points that it's in danger of collapsing on itself."

"Yes, in which case we use brute force and run like hell to Castle Cousland." Duncan responded.

Serrice grinned. The chance to openly taunt the Templars was just too exciting for her to resist. She looked at Catte, "there's a chance that they'll sense more than my magic."

"If they can't sense the Taint in all of us, they can't sense more than the spell." Catte smiled at her reassuringly, or at least she tried to. "Besides, the Joining is an acceptable form of its use. There are times when we use mages in the ritual who aren't Grey Wardens."

Duncan looked around at the tavern, it was starting to empty and not because a group of armored and armed Grey Wardens were sitting at a table in the corner. It was getting late. "I think it's time."

Catte stood up first and as she turned around Serrice gasped. Catte spun back around quickly, "What?"

"The cloak, I hadn't seen." Serrice stood up and turned her back to Catte so she could see what the others had. It just looked like a plain dark grey cloak, but with the right movement in the right light, a dark griffon appeared.

Catte's eyes widened. She looked at Duncan, "we need to make sure we have these made in all different fabrics." She knew better than anyone else how important appearances could be. "And we are paying her to keep quiet about even making the fabric."

Duncan grinned, "interesting Warden Secret."

She led them from the tavern and down the street to the hostel. Once they were in front of the building she nodded to Serrice. Corin faded from view and the mage mixed the contents of the three vials together. Duncan and Catte stood side by side in front of the door, and Eirik and Kinnon stood with swords out, but relaxed, behind them, but to the side. Serrice was protected from all sides.

As soon as she began the incantation, doors opening and closing and the clanging of armor could be heard from inside the hostel. The door finally opened and three Templars poured out.

"You have something of mine and I want it back."

The Templar in charge sneered at her. "We just have a runaway mage and are returning him to the Circle where he belongs."

She lifted a brow, "the Chantry kidnaps Wardens now?" She took a step closer to them. "I did not realize that they would be so quick to challenge the edict of the King of Ferelden."

She felt a gentle pressure on her arm as Corin passed her, he had the vial and was on his way to finding Sabin. Now, he just had to get to him and Sabin had to survive the joining, but at least one hurdle was complete.

"The Grand Cleric herself ordered his retrieval. You are only allotted one mage from each circle. It is the Grey Wardens who helped a mage to escape."

So that's why he was so brave. He had the backing of the Grand Cleric. The game suddenly changed and became very interesting. She smirked and walked towards him. "I could take you all right now. I have that right you know. The Right of Conscription. The King can't overrule it and neither can the Grand Cleric." She stopped her approach when she saw the Templar visibly swallow.

"If you have a problem, appeal to the Grand Cleric, but I have my orders." He took a slight step backwards.

"I'm not leaving until I get my Warden back."

"He's just a recruit." The Templar was losing ground and face and not at all happy with the way things were turning out.

"He is a Grey Warden, a junior member yes, but I assure you, he is a Grey Warden." She couldn't help herself, her hand balled into a tight fist and she hauled her arm back. Before the Templar could respond, she threw her arm forward until her fist connected with his jaw. As the Templar's head swung back, she snarled at him, "and I want him back."

She felt the gentle pressure on her arm again and nearly laughed. Corin was back and it had worked.

She pulled out a dagger, "So the way I see it, you either return him to me, or I take him myself."

It had the desired effect. The other Templars drew their swords, preparing to face off with the Wardens. The fight was ugly and clumsy. The newly made Wardens didn't work as well together as Duncan and Catte and ended up getting in the way more often than not, but when it was over the three Templars were on the ground and clearly dazed.

Corin spoke up behind her, "there's one more inside. I knocked her out on my way out."

Catte nodded. She was already heading into the hostel to get Sabin. "Serrice. Bind the leader, but leave the others." Binding a templar with magic was humiliating and Catte wanted to make sure that the Templar felt his shame every step of the way.

Sabin was in the room, clearly confused and Catte winced when she saw the bruises. "Oh, darling, I am so sorry." She wrapped her arms around the frail mage. His dark hair shielded his eyes from her, but his skin was even more pale than normal. "You are a Grey Warden. And if the Chantry even looks your way again, I will take it apart brick by brick."

Sabin clung to her, holding on to her as if his life depended on it. She pulled him up and walked out of the room and hostel with him. Corin took him from her and guided the trembling healer to the others.

Catte looked down at the Templars, kicking one of them until he shook off enough of his daze to register her presence. "Run back to your precious chantry and tell them that the Warden Commander is not happy. Tell them that they best think about their plans long and hard before they act again." She crouched down next to him, bringing her lips closer to his ear to whisper. "Because next time, you will either be made a Warden or you'll be dead."

They were all mounted and Catte swung up into her saddle. She noticed that Corin had Sabin in front of him on the saddle was talking quietly to the healer. She looked at Duncan and nodded to the young rogue and healer. He just shrugged, as surprised as she was.

"Serrice, bring the Templar along with us." She could see the strain in the mage, but Avernus was right, she was strong. Serrice was keeping the Templar in a state of sleep and managing to drag him along behind them at a stumbling walk.

They headed to Castle Cousland to the rooms promised them and all silently hoped there would be food for them as well.

~

Duncan was in bed with Catte. After everyone had been settled into rooms, the Templar properly bound with a delightful set of manacles the Teyrn had dug up, and the Teyrna had been assured that the hospitality was more than plentiful, that it had exceeded their expectations, Catte and Duncan found themselves alone.

Catte curled up against him for support. Now that the immediate threat had been taken care of, she could let go and that meant crying. She had almost lost a Warden. She had known that the role of Grey Wardens in Ferelden was tenuous, but she never thought for a moment that the Chantry would accuse a Warden recruit of being a runaway mage. Duncan just held her and rubbed her back until she calmed down.

"You know what we have to do next, Catling."

She nodded her head against his chest.

"Do you want me there?" 

She thought for a moment before nodding her head slowly. "Yes."

He ran his fingers through her hair. "If we bring Sabin, we should probably bring Corin as well."

She pulled back and wiped her nose across her sleeve. "Didn't see that one coming." She sniffed.

Duncan grinned and pulled her back against him. "Come on, Catling. If I know you, we'll be heading to Denerim before the sun has completely risen.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been fond of Loghain while playing the game, but I find myself more sympathetic to him as the story unfolds. And dare I say that I even like him a little bit? I have a feeling that my relationship with Loghain is similar to Catte's - she doesn't particularly like him, but she understands him and her respect for him is slowly growing.

Duncan was rarely wrong and his assumption about the time of their departure wasn't going to be an exception. The sun wasn't even fully up and Catte had graciously thanked their host and promised that the Wardens would always help the Couslands if they were able. She had instructed Kinnon to return to the keep with Serrice and Eirik, after they had spoken with the weaver. He was also reminded that Grey Wardens did not answer to anyone but the Warden Commander. He had every right to use as much force as he deemed necessary for any situation. She also took one of their mounts for the Templar. Duncan was tying him into the saddle when Catte exited the castle.

"All ready?"

"What do you think, three days?" Catte pulled herself into the saddle and looked over at Sabin. Reassuring herself that he was there and at least was starting to look a little better.

"If we push." Duncan tied the lead rope of the Templar's mount to his own saddle and then climbed in his own saddle. After much debate, they decided to keep the Templar manacled and gagged.

Catte nodded and nudged her horse into a lope. The others followed behind her, their new cloaks flowing out behind them. From the quiet ohhs she heard as they rode through the wakening market, the griffon was having a nice effect. She smiled to herself.

The first day was the hardest. Sabin wasn't fully rested and constantly being in the saddle was tiring. Corin belted him to the saddle and took lead of his horse so that the healer could at least nap. Eventually they got into a pattern. They'd ride fast during the day, using stops at water sources to take care of personal needs, and eat in the saddle. At least twice during the day, Catte would have them put feed bags on the bridles for the horses. At dusk they would make temporary camp, actually cooking a dinner and letting the horses rest. After a few hours, Catte would order them back into the saddles and they would walk their horses during the night. At dawn, they would take another break for a few hours. It was difficult, but the Wardens, even Sabin, didn't seem to be having as hard a time as the Templar.

It was late in the afternoon of the third day when they approached Denerim. Corin called for a stop and when Catte raised a brow questioningly he rolled his eyes at her. 

"Really, Catte? We look like refugees. You are covered in the dirt from the road and your armor's a mess. We have time, let's stop, clean up and really give them a show."

Catte couldn't find any real argument to his words, but she did look at Duncan, who was trying very hard not to laugh and failing. His shoulders were rising and falling in silence. "Fine. Know a good spot?"

Of course he knew the right spot. Corin led them to a small clearing with stream along its edge. She allowed Corin to strip the armor from her body and push her to the stream to wash. When Duncan joined her with a confused look quite similar to her own, she couldn't help herself.

"Did you know?"

Duncan just shook his head. "It's not like I asked him, 'so, your aunt is a seamstress and you seem to be really enjoy mending, do you like men or women?' and what do we really care?"

"We don't, I just… I guess I just. Oh gods, Duncan, we're going to be coordinated, aren't we?"

"Not a bad thing. The cloaks certainly made an impact and you had to admit, that armor he cobbled together for you looks very good."

She dunked as much of her body under the water and climbed out of the shallow water to lay down on a blanket from a bedroll. "Talk with him, please. I don't want Sabin hurt."

"What? Why me?" Duncan stood up and shook out his wet hair before joining Catte on the blanket.

"I don't want to embarrass him." She was brushing out her hair, prepping it for a braid.

"And I won't?" Duncan was pulling on his linens when he looked at her arm. His fingers had left bruises from when he had grabbed her at Castle Cousland, and he winced. He touched them with gentle fingers. "I'm sorry, Catling."

She smiled at him, "don't be. You did what you had to do to get my attention." She finished her braid and tied it off. "I'd be more upset if you hadn't."

"I'll go get your armor so we don't shock the Templar any more than we already have." Duncan stood up and walked over to Corin. 

Not only had he cleaned up Catte's armor, but he had made adjustments to Duncan's. He had added grey fabric, scraps from the cloak, to the hips of the greaves. It mimicked the skirts of the Templars, but was left open in the front. After he was fully dressed, Duncan couldn't complain. It wasn't a uniform in as much as it added a level of refinement to his armor. He and Catte might giggle about it, but Corin was right. Ferelden need a show, and they needed to dress the part of Wardens if Ferelden was to be expected to acquiesce to their demands.

 

Corin also made an adjustment to the cloak. He had turned the hood into a cowl and instead of it wrapping around Duncan's neck, he put if over one shoulder and tied it under the opposite arm. Duncan turned to Sabin. "What do you think, Warden? Will this pass muster."

Sabin grinned shyly and nodded his head. "It should do just fine."

"No dip in the stream for you?"

Corin was working at removing a particularly stubborn area of dirt on Catte's armor. "No."

Duncan turned to look at Corin, crossing his arms over his chest. "And just who are you to tell another Warden what they can or can't do."

Corin looked up, finally vanquishing the spot. "Do you want the King to see a young healthy mage, freshly scrubbed from a long trip, or a young warden taken against his will by the Templars under order from the Chantry?" Corin glared at the Templar. "I wish we could have plugged his ears too."

Duncan held up his hands in defeat. Corin was way out of their league and knew it was better to surrender. "Catte needs her armor. Unless you expect her to ride in with nothing but a linen shirt."

Corin made a face at him, but handed him the armor. "If we were going to do that, then I would recommend no shirt at all."

Duncan laughed as he walked back to Catte. "I'll let you try to convince her of that." He tossed the armor down onto the bedroll. "If you don't hurry up, he's going to figure out how to make Sabin's bruises look worse."

Catte had her linen shirt on and was busy pulling on the rest of her armor over it. It was only while she was buckling her daggers into place and Duncan was fastening her cloak that she looked up and saw him staring at her. "What?"

"I know it's you, and I know you. But you really do look deadly in that armor." He was staring at the griffon.

She grinned up at him. "That's the point, isn't it? Make 'em think I can and will kill them so I don't have to?" She bent down and grabbed the bedroll, rolling it back up as she returned to the horses to slip it into one of the saddle packs. "Let's go." She started saddling the horses so Duncan and Corin could manage the Templar.

~

As they rode through the gates to the palace, no one challenged her. And when they dismounted, someone ran from the stables to take care of their horses. Corin managed to grab the saddlebags before they were taken away and split his bounty with Sabin. Duncan grabbed the Templar by the bicep and pulled him along beside him. Cinn walked towards the doors, but before they could be opened she stopped the guardsmen.

"Where is the King now?"

"He's hearing petitions in the Great Hall, Warden Commander."

Catte thought about his words for a moment, "commoner or noble?"

"Lesser nobles. Banns and Lords, Warden Commander."

She smiled for him, "Thank you. Please, don't announce me."

The guardsman nodded and gave a signal to his partner, they opened the doors and Catte strode forward into the Great Hall. The King looked up when he heard the doors open and couldn't help but smile when he saw her face. As soon as he took in her armor, her expression and the fact that she wasn't alone, the smile faded.

She continued towards the throne, not bothering to look anywhere but at the King. Duncan came close behind her, practically dragging the manacled Templar. Corin, with Sabin leaning heavily against Corin for support, walked much more slowly. Once Catte had their attention, it was only right that they should get a good look at the condition of the Sabin.

"Your Majesty." She stopped just shy of the steps to the throne.

The Lord, who had been pleading his case, scampered away before she stepped over him.

Maric nodded his head slowly at her, "Yes, Warden Commander?"

"I was under the impression that when the Wardens were welcomed back into Ferelden it didn't mean that the Chantry would send Templars to kidnap my mages."

Corin pushed Sabin forward and Duncan could of sworn he heard Corin hide the word limp behind a cough. If the King did not look as angry as he did, Duncan might have laughed.

"Ferelden has become complacent because there hasn't been a blight in centuries. I assure you, without the Wardens, and the mages who are Wardens, Ferelden will fall to the next blight." She lifted her chin and looked around the Hall at the lesser nobles. "We will leave you to fend for yourselves. We will stand at your borders and prevent the spread of the darkspawn to the other lands, but we will let you fall." She raised her voice so that it carried, "I do not answer to a King and I will die before I answer to the Chantry. There is only one who I answer to, only one who has the right to take my Wardens away from me and it is not the Grand Cleric Elemena."

Maric was gripping the arms of his throne so hard his knuckles had turned white. The way his jaw clenched, his anger was visible to everyone. Yet only three people were certain of who was the target of that anger. Not only had the Grand Cleric defied the covenant between the Wardens and Thedas, she had also ignored the writ of the King. And probably one of the most important factors of Maric's, the Grand Cleric was appointed by the Divine, who resided in Orlais.

Whether it was deliberate or not, Catte planted the idea that it was possible Orlais wanted Ferelden weakened if there was a blight.

Duncan pulled the gag from the Templar's mouth, "Tell his Majesty your orders and who they came from."

Maric stared at the Templar. He had a bruise on his left cheek, but other than that, he appeared unharmed, if uncomfortable. He lifted an eyebrow. "Tell me."

Duncan pushed the Templar down to his knees before he could speak. "We were told to head to highever and look for a mage of a specific description, that the Wardens had assisted in his escape."

"Apparently, since the covenant says we can only recruit one mage from a circle, it was decided that Sabin was escaping." Catte lowered her voice as she turned and raised an arm towards Sabin. "Your Majesty, Sabin is a healer. He keeps us alive in battles. That is his only role. He knows nothing of combat magic, he just does what he can so we can fight a little bit longer."

Whatever gentleness in voice changed when she looked at the Templar. "And yet the Templars felt a need to beat him, to subdue him. There were four Templars and one healer, and this is what they did to the healer."

Maric leaned forward, "and who gave you the order, Templar?"

"The order came from the Grand Cleric."

Maric snarled at one of his guards, who practically tripped over himself to get to his King as quickly as possible. "Bring this Templar back to the Chantry and return with the Grand Cleric. Not at her convenience. Bring a squad to escort her to the palace."

Loghain visibly winced but said nothing. Instead he just stared at Catte. She was tempted to give him a little wave to see if she could get him to break again, but stopped herself. That would come later, after the Court had been dismissed. Loghain leaned across to another guard and Catte listened as he spoke quietly, but not quietly enough. "Go to the gates, the Templars are not to pass the Palace gates under any circumstance. If the Royal Guard is good enough for the King, then it is good enough for the Grand Cleric."

Maric sat back in his throne and leaned over to Loghain. The whisper was nearly silent, but after a few moments, the Seneschal called a close to the hearings and sent the Court away. Corin walked the few steps to stand just behind Duncan, and Catte took advantage of the quiet and closed her eyes.

"Sabin?" The King's voice broke the silence and almost everyone flinched. Catte was the only one who didn't. "Tell me what happened."

The healer started slowly, but with Catte encouraging him with nods, he told his story. Once more, Maric gripped the arms of his throne until his knuckles turned white. When Sabin finally finished, the King was standing up and pacing around the Hall.

"What was she possibly thinking?" No one really thought that he wanted an answer, and as such wisely kept quiet. 

While Maric ranted to himself, Loghain moved to stand close to Catte.

"Warden Commander."

"Teyrn."

"You know, it would be a lot quicker for you to just stick a dagger in me then to keep bringing these messes to the Court."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"How long are you staying?"

"Not long, don't worry."

"He misses you."

They had been watching Maric and speaking in whispers so no one else could hear their conversations, but when Loghain made the admission, Catte almost looked at him.

"He misses the idea of me."

"Say what you need to in order to convince yourself, Warden, but you saw his face when you walked in."

She nodded her head slowly. "And here I thought you loathed me, Loghain."

"Oh, I do, Catte, but I love him."

"What are you going to recommend?"

"If I thought we could get away with it, I'd say throw Elemena out, but that would make things worse."

"I've been wanting to recruit a Templar."

This time Loghain had to fight the urge to look at her in surprise. "Why, Warden Commander, I do believe you are better at politics than you give yourself credit for."

He stepped away from her before Maric realized that they were standing close to one another and neither was wounded.

By the time the guards opened the door, Maric was back in his throne, Loghain was behind him, and Catte stood at the bottom of the stairs to the King's right, the other Wardens off to the side on her right.

"Your Majesty, I believe that you requested my presence, are you in need of a blessing? The Grand Cleric ignored the Grey Wardens.

"I am curious as to why you ignored a writ from the crown ordering the Circle to allow the Wardens to recruit two mages instead of the usual one."

The older woman didn't flinch, but she did blink. "The agreement is for one mage from each circle at a time."

"And did the Divine order the deliberate ignoring of my orders? Did she also order that a Warden be kidnapped? Did the Divine inform the First Warden her intent to ignore existing agreements? But most importantly I think, did the Divine order four Templars to beat a healer to subdue him?"

"The Chantry must protect mages from themselves and others from mages, the Templars do what they deem necessary." She bristled under the barrage, but didn't bend.

"Come now, Grand Cleric Elemena, we both know why you ordered Sabin returned to the Circle. Are you going to stand here and actually lie?" Catte had enough of the chastisement. She was going in for the kill. "You didn't want to lose one of your healers, especially a Spirit Healer." She stalked towards the Grand Cleric. "I've already let the Court know that if the Chantry interferes with my Wardens again, we will leave Ferelden to fend for itself in the next Blight. How long do you think the people will continue to support your presence here, especially if they learned that you didn't order the kidnapping of my healer for any other reason than you wanted your healer back."

Catte circled around her back to her other side. "And how long do you think Ferelden will tolerate Templars rampaging through their homes after word gets out that the poor defenseless healer, who knows no combat magic, was beaten?"

The Grand Cleric glanced over at the Wardens, "I see you have him back."

Catte's lips turned up into a slight smile. Duncan leaned over to Corin and whispered, "and now for the kill."

"Yes I do. But I want compensation."

"The Chantry survives on the generosity of the flock, I know they would be devastated to hear that the self-sacrificing Grey Wardens were demanding money from us, when that money could go to help the poor and needy." 

Duncan realized that the Grand Cleric wasn't nearly as skilled as she gave herself credit for, and filed away the information for later.

"Who said anything about money. I want a Templar. One who hasn't taken full orders yet, a recruit." She moved back to stand in front of the King's throne. "After all, it's only fair, you took one of mine, I want one of yours."

Whatever gesture or advice Loghain gave Maric was hidden from her, but she could feel Maric lean forwards again. "This should make you happy, Grand Cleric, the chance to get a Templar into the ranks of the Grey Wardens."

"Very well, I will send over a few of our most promising"

"That won't be necessary." Catte looked at Duncan, who pulled out the list they had drawn from the roster and gave it to her. She in turn handed it to the King. Maric looked over the names and gave it to Loghain. 

Loghain shot Catte a look, but walked down the steps to the Grand Cleric and handed her the parchment. "Gather these possible recruits and bring them to the Palace. I would think that ten days should be enough time."

The Grand Cleric snatched the parchment from him, "fine."

Maric cleared his throat, "Grand Cleric, I don't think I need to remind you that the liberties you are given in Ferelden are at the pleasure of the Crown. The Grey Wardens learned that lesson already, it might behoove you to study your lessons from them."

Corin leaned in to Duncan, "and the King makes sure the killing blow was fatal."

The Grand Cleric turned and marched from the Hall. The King, Teyrn, and Grey Wardens watched her retreat. Once she had left, the King stood up from the throne. "Duncan and Catte, join me please." He walked towards he doors to his wing. The Seneschal was already hurrying across the floor to lead Sabin and Corin to the apartments set aside for Wardens in the other wing.

Duncan, Catte, and Loghain followed the King.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently Catte has Daddy Issues and Maric is kinky.
> 
> Not explicit, but there is spanking. Short chapter and not that much plot, but a lot of character development, so if you want to, skip over it.

Maric pushed Catte against the wall and pressed his lips against hers. His kiss was hungry and unrelenting and she responded in kind. Hands battled with one another, trying to unfasten leggings and pants, her leg wrapping around one of his. Catte had managed to find the lacings on Maric's pants and was pushing them down his hips, but Maric was losing his battle with her clothing.

"Maker, do you have a lock and key for these?" His lips frantically kissed along her jaw.

Catte laughed, "blame Corin." Relucantly she pulled her hands away from his skin and unfastened the piece of leather and silverite that covered the lacings. His hands pushed hers away and returned to their task. Lips found lips again, just in time for his mouth to cover her gasp and moan.

It was quick, for both of them. As soon as he felt him, her body tightened, and as soon as he felt her tighten around him, he couldn't hold back. They fell in battle together, and it was a war neither of them minded losing.

Later, while they were in bed, Maric found the bruises on her arm left from Duncan. For a moment Catte didn't know who Maric was angrier at, Duncan or Catte. She gave up on trying to distract him with kisses to just explain.

He held her arm, covering the bruises with his own fingers. "I don't like marks from another man on you." His voice was quiet, but firm.

Catte laughed and when Maric looked at her she immediately knew that she was in trouble. His jaw tightened, and his fingers gripped her arm.

She tried to explain, "Maric, there aren't…"but she was cut off as he sat up in bed and pulled her across his lap, one arm over her waist was holding her down and the other was slowly circling over her bottom. 

Catte tried to twist away from his grasp, but even with her arms free for leverage, his strength was too much for her to break free. She was assessing her situation when she realized his hand on her bottom was gone and tried to wriggle free. Before she could even shift her body, his hand was back. However instead of the gentle caressing, it brought a sharp sting. There were several more sharp stings before she understood that he was actually spanking her.

She struggled at first, fighting against his grip, trying to move out of the way of his hand, but he was at the advantage, since he could watch her movements and she couldn't see his hand. After one particularly hard spanking following an enthusiastic attempt to extricate herself, she opened her mouth to scream, but instead of the loud yelp she was expecting, she heard herself moan.

Once more Catte was assessing, she didn't understand the moan, she didn't understand why she was actually lifting her hips up, she didn't understand why her legs were parting, but most of all, she didn't understand why there seemed to be a lot of moisture where she pressed up again Maric's thigh. If her own reactions startled her, she was even more surprised when she realized that Maric was excited as well, she could feel him pressing against her stomach.

His hand was back on her bottom, rubbing gently. She knew that her skin was hot, she could feel it, and she knew that he could feel it was well. His arm around her waist loosened slightly, she could free herself if she had wanted to, but she didn't want to. She gave in to herself with whimper of defeat.

Maric stilled his hand, the rubbing stopped, and she closed her eyes tightly.

"More?" His voice was rough, but soft.

Catte said nothing, just nodded her head and gripped the blankets over the bed. She cursed at Lusacan, he had answered her prayer, it was all His fault. So much wasn't part of the plan, and she wept. She wept at the pieces, so carefully constructed, fall apart and landed far beyond her reach. She struggled to grab at them, but they remained elusive, she wept and gave up the struggle. She wept as the warmth from her bottom spread throughout her body before focusing and pushing her towards release. 

Maric pulled her up to his chest, holding her shuddering body against hers. He kissed her cheeks and didn't ask her about the tears, even though she was sure he could surely taste them. He kissed her lips, and held her. She could feel the coarseness of the hair on his legs against her raw bottom, but she relished in its reminder of her pain. The soreness from the spanking was something tangible, something she could hold on to, something that couldn't evade her grasp.

~

She was still in his bed when she woke up in the morning and cursed. She jumped out of bed and raced to pull on her armor and sneak into her own rooms, but she couldn't find it. After searching under every piece of furniture, she gave up and went to the wardrobe. She pulled out one of his shirts and pulled it over her head. She was about to head out the door to the balcony when the bedroom door opened and she jumped, half expecting a servant.

"Where are you going?" Maric looked at her with a smile and amusement in his eyes.

"I need to get back to my rooms." She couldn't look at him, not with daylight coming through the windows. He had spanked her the night before and she enjoyed it, not only had she enjoyed it, she had wanted him to continue.

Maric stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, but didn't go to her. She wasn't sure if she expected or just wanted him to comfort her. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the door, leading outside.

"Your armor is being cleaned." 

She heard something soft land on the bed, but didn't turn around to look at him.

"Catte, I already went to your room, I already made it look like you slept there." She could hear him sit down on the bed. "Come here?"

She turned around and opened her eyes, finally looking at him. She wasn't expecting him to look at her as he always looked at her. She wasn't expecting the slight smile, the amusement in his eyes, the face of the ever cheery King. She succumbed, just like she had the night before and just as she had the first night she ever stayed at the palace. She walked the few steps to the bed and stood in front of him. 

He rubbed his hands up her hips and smiled even more at her. "Oh, my little Catte, you have no idea do you?"

"No idea of what?" She asked him.

"Nothing, Catte." He kissed her stomach and rested his head against her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. With a deep breath that she could feel against her body, he gently pushed back. "You need to get dressed." He reached for the fabric on the bed and held up the dress for her.

"If you remember the last time I wore a gown, it didn't exactly end well." She was eyeing it with an obvious distaste.

Maric remembered her in the gown and buried his groan. "It's not like that. I had that seamstress make some clothing for you, for when you visited. We can't have you running around in armor all the time."

"I like my armor."

He thoughts drifted to her storming into the hall. Encased in black with gold and silverite, and that cloak flying out behind her, she looked like vengeance herself sweeping down to collect her payment.

"It's being cleaned. I promise, you'll have it back after breakfast. But Duncan and Loghain are going to be joining us and as much as I enjoy you in my shirts, I don't enjoy the thought of them seeing you my shirts." He pushed the garment into her hands.

She snatched it from him and held it up to get a better look. It was blue with white trim, the skirt was split up the middle to her waist and she smiled in surprise and pleasure. There were pants. The skirt wasn't really a skirt, it was more like her train. Maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought. 

Catte laced up the front of the bodice. The fabric, no matter how soft, rubbed against her bottom and reminded her that she was still sore. What surprised her the most though, was that Feritta had included boots for her as well. They weren't practical in the slightest, but they were comfortable. Just like her gown, the skirt could be detached. All of her armor was made in pieces, but this was one piece, made from a soft suede, and was snug enough against her body to hide very little.

Maric came up behind her and started fastening the skirt to her waist.

"It just gets in the way." She tried to push his hands away.

He growled softly into her ear, "You already cause enough trouble for me, my little Catte, don't add the King throwing the Warden Commander down on the breakfast table in front of others to the list." He finished securing it in place before she could protest.


	9. Chapter 9

"The Grand Cleric thinks her duty is to the Chantry, that is the problem." Loghain looked at Maric as he spoke.

"Will this cause problems in Orlais or with the Divine?" Maric asked Loghain.

Duncan took a drink of coffee, "Orlais, probably, but not with the Divine."

Catte studied Loghain. If it was possible, he hated Duncan more than he loathed her. There was a story there, she was sure of it, and she was almost positive that it included the King, but no one mentioned anything about past events.

Catte closed her eyes. Warden Secrets. There were too many of them and some she understood, but others she didn't. Some she knew could be shared with certain allies, others had to be kept locked away no matter what. Taking a breath she opened her eyes and looked at Maric, avoiding Duncan's gaze at all costs. "The Divine knows why a Grey Warden is needed to end the Blight."

Duncan was in the for the silver, "she also has intimate knowledge of the Joining and despite it going against the Chantry, she allows mages who aren't Wardens to help with the preparation."

Loghain glared at the King, as if this conversation was all his fault.

Catte cleared her throat, "we sent messages to the other outposts, letting them know what happened. They will start quietly of course, but eventually people will know that the Templars tried to take a Warden Mage."

Maric looked between Catte and Duncan, "how does that help us?"

Loghain closed his eyes and Catte would have sworn to the seven old gods that he was counting to ten. "Because, it prevents Orlais from claiming that the Wardens overstepped their bounds with the Chantry with the King of Ferelden's help."

"We are also attempting to notify the Divine." Duncan didn't share how they were managing it, but then Maric seemed to accept the words at face value.

"So where does this leave us exactly?" Maric looked around the table expectantly.

"We can't say for sure, we can only speculate." Catte looked at Duncan. "There will be some fall out from this, but as long as we control the story, it should be minimal."

Loghain glared at Catte with eyes full of resentment. "So what do you need from us to control the story?"

"Just make sure that any gossip isn't about the Warden Commander humiliating the Grand Cleric." Duncan shrugged.

"Fields of wheat. I can see it now, the wind making the shafts wave gently, a golden sea." Loghain sighed wistfully.

Duncan looked at Catted with a bemused expression. "What?"

"We broke him." Catte hid a grin and winked at Loghain before biting into a sausage. "I should probably huff around and complain bitterly and loudly about the Templars just taking Sabin away without at least talking to me first."

"Maybe fruit trees as well." Loghain made his retreat from the room and Catte watched him. "So, Duncan, why does Loghain hate you even more than me?" She split her gaze between Maric and Duncan. Maric finally nodded, it was a small gesture, but she saw it.

"It's about something that happened before Maric invited us back into Ferelden." Duncan focused on the food in front of him. As far as he was concerned, there wasn't any more that needed to be said.

"Is that why he doesn't like Grey Wardens?" Catte pushed.

Maric actually laughed, "No, he's never really liked the Grey Wardens. What happened just allowed him to convince himself that his suspicions were right, even if they were actually wrong."

The King confused Catte. She watched him over the rim of her coffee cup, replaying what she knew from her experiences with him and what she thought she knew from her research. It was obvious that he was incredibly pliant when the situation was right, but just when she thought that she understood him, he would say something to confound her, like being incredibly astute. The more her thoughts wandered, the more she leaned to the conclusion that the man sitting next to her didn't want to be the King. He might enjoy the privileges that came with being his Majesty, but he, more than Loghain, would rather be at some far off keep looking across a field of grain, or admiring the bounty of a fruit tree.

~

Catte slipped a dagger into the leather belt around her thigh and looked at her reflection. True to his word, the armor was waiting in her rooms after breakfast.

"No cloak today?"

She smiled and turned around at Maric's voice. "Nope, that's for show."

He actually smirked at her, "and this isn't?"

She smiled and tried to look innocent, but it too was for show. "Hopping balcony railings now? What will the nobility think?"

"I have meetings today, nothing important, just the Banns and lower nobles presenting documents for official Crown recognition." He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "But you and me will have dinner together, just us two." He kissed the tip of her nose and playfully swatted her bottom.

Catte tried to hide her wince by burrowing her face into Maric's neck.

"Oh, my little Catte." He lifted her chin so she was looking at him. He didn't apologize, instead he kissed her. When he finally pulled away from her, he looked down at her face, tracing his thumb along her bottom lip and tightened his arm around her waist.

She looked down, not wanting him to see that the wince wasn't entirely from pain. "I need to check on Sabin."

He kissed her again before letting her go and slipping back to the balcony.

Catte left her rooms and paused for a moment in the hallway. She didn't want to face Duncan and the others just yet. She reminded herself that she was the Warden Commander, but that little voice in the back of her head told her that saying it wasn't going to make everything else go away. And instead of ignoring that little voice, she told it to shut up. Out loud. The guards standing in the hallway looked at her. A blush rose to her cheeks. There was really only one way to handle being caught talking to yourself and telling yourself to shut up. Walk away.

She left the hallway and realized that she was headed towards the wing opposite the King's. She didn't know why she didn't turn herself around once she realized where she was headed and what was worse that little voice in her head had actually listened and wasn't offering reasons why it was a bad idea.

She smiled sweetly at the guard outside the door, "The Teyrn isn't expecting me. Perhaps you could let him know that the Warden Commander would like a moment." Well she was in for the silver now, might as well carry on with it.

The guard returned and opened the door for her. She stepped into the room, expecting an antechamber like the King's, but instead she found herself in a well-appointed office. It was more comfortable than her office, but it reminded her of the one in Soldier's Peak nonetheless. It was clearly used for working and not just for entertaining.

"Warden Commander, I must admit to being surprised that you would actually seek me out. I thought that we had an understanding." Loghain gestured to one of the more comfortable chairs and then poured himself a drink. He held the bottle out to her.

Catte nodded her head slowly, liquid courage wasn't always a bad thing. "I would think that you would never drink this early, Teyrn."

"I find that when you're in residence it makes my life much easier, Warden Commander." He handed her the glass.

They sat in silence, sipping their drinks and pointedly avoiding one another. Finally Catte set the glass down on the edge of the desk. "Teyrn, why do you hate the Grey Wardens so much? I can imagine and appreciate a distrust, especially after Sophia Dryden, but this goes beyond history."

"You weren't born in Ferelden, you weren't here before Maric was coroneted."

"No, I was in Weisshaupt, probably six or seven."

Loghain actually choked on his brandy. He knew she was young, just not that young. She was closer to Cailain's age than the King's. "No wonder he missed you."

Catte didn't bother to hide her smirk. "Loghain, I am going to make a promise to you. You can decide whether you believe me or not. I have no desires for the throne and while I might bring politics to your door, I will never try to sway Maric unless it directly impacts Wardens."

Loghain leaned back in his chair, looking her over. "Frankly, Catte, it actually might not be the worst idea. And the idea of a spare whose mother was also a Warden…" His political machinations were turning in his mind.

Catte just shook her head, "No chance of a spare. And what would the nobility say when I recruited a criminal who stole from them or worse? That the King can't control his Queen?"

Loghain's mind was back on the former part of her statement. "No spare?"

She weighed the Warden Secret in her mind, debating just what to reveal. "At least not from me. It's hard enough for Wardens to conceive, but for someone born to Wardens, well that pretty much guarantees that the wells are dry."

"Catte, you really aren't just a Warden Commander are you? My spies could never find the answer as to why you replaced Duncan." Loghain knew that she knew about the spies, but since he was still getting information he assumed she didn't think them a risk.

She picked up the glass and took another sip, "did you tell the Chantry that we are at Soldier's Peak?"

Loghain looked hurt, not that she accused him of giving information, but that she thought he would give information to the chantry. "No."

"The High Constable is going to be traveling through Orlais back to Weisshaupt." She looked at the contents of her glass.

"How can you claim neutraility when you have such a large presence in Orlais?"

"Orlais uses the Blight and I suppose that we look the other way because they don't constantly fight us." She looked him in the eyes, but didn't add, 'like you do'. "Besides, the Anderfels aren't exactly all that valuable, so Orlais is never a direct threat to us."

She stood up and smiled at Loghain, "I'll try not to cause too much trouble."

"For some reason, I don't think you can actually help it."

Before she left Catte stopped at the door and looked at him. "You might consider bringing Anora to court. Cailan might be more motivated if he had someone to impress."

He nodded to her and turned back to the documents on his desk and she walked out of the room. She still didn't understand the man's hatred, but she thought it boded well that they hadn't resorted to name calling or deliberately getting under one's skin.

Catte steeled herself and walked towards the Great Hall. She knew that the King would be sitting on his throne and that the nobles would be hovering around at a chance to gain favor with the King. If she needed to control the story than the Hall was where she had to start. Since Loghain was in his rooms, she knew that these meetings were largely trivial. There would be no way that Loghain would leave Maric alone to dictate policy. Not that she really faulted Loghain for that. If Maric were a Warden she'd be hard-pressed to see him as a Commander.

When she walked in, she was welcomed with an immediate silence from the groups closest to her. Apparently, she thought, she was the topic of conversation. Well at least now they had other things to call her besides the King's whore. So lost in her thoughts she startled when a hand gently touched her arm.

"Warden Commander?" The voice belonged to a young woman, probably newly presented to Court.

"Yes?" Catte was startled that a matron hadn't come to pull the girl away from the scandal the Warden seemed to be surrounded with. Since she knew the children of the two Teyrn and they were much too young for Court, this girl must be from a family of lesser nobles.

"I wanted to thank you.."

Catte's eyes widened. This young woman was proving to be extremely surprising. "Whatever for?"

"Before my father sent me here, we were always watching for darkspawn. Playing outside as a child usually meant carrying some sort of weapon as well." The girl smiled at Catte. "The others might not realize it, but I've seen Wardens return from fighting a small swarm, and I've also seen knights drop dead days after killing a single darkspawn. So thank you."

Catte smiled and laughed, she pulled the girl's arm through her own and walked around the perimeter. "You are delightful, my dear. Now, tell me who your father is?"

"Arl Wulff, Warden Commander."

"And you're name?" Catte bent her head towards the girl. That the girl's father was an Arl surprised her. 

"Danella, Warden Commander"

"Alright, Danella. If I may call you Danella, would you call me Catte?" She winked at the girl, "we're going to turn around now and walk back towards the throne. Ignore the stares."

The girl nodded and swallowed hard. "Alright, Catte."

"Very good, now how are you with a sword?"

"I use daggers, Catte" Danella blushed, she hadn't expected the Warden Commander to actually talk with her.

"Well what a coincidence, so do I. You probably don't have reason to spar very often here, but I will be in Denerim for several days and would love an opportunity to spar with you." Catte was slowly guiding them towards the throne.

"I'd enjoy that, Catte. But I am hardly a challenge." The girl almost swooned, as a child she and her brothers had played at being Wardens.

"Brace yourself, Danella, you're about ready to find yourself speaking with the King." Catte whispered quietly into Danella's ear. "And the envy of every noble's daughter at Court."

As if on cue and because Catte was finally close enough to him so he wouldn't have to yell to her, Maric called for her, "Warden Commander?"

"Your Majesty?"

"I didn't expect to see you at Court this morning." His eyes were amused by her presence, but his smile was small.

"I was merely passing through when I happened across the Lady Danella, daughter to the Arl of West Hill." Danella had curtseyed when Maric called and Catte was struggling to pull the girl upright. She finally managed without making either of them look silly, but it ended up being a bit of a challenge.

"Lady Danella, how is your father?" The King turned his attention to the girl and Catte had to hold her up before she buckled.

"He's fine your majesty. He apologizes for not being at Court more often."

"And what were you and the Warden Commander discussing?"

"Oh, um, darkspawn, your majesty." Danella blushed from her ears down to her chest and again, and Catte did what she could to keep the girl upright.

Maric's brow creased. "Darkspawn? Surely you aren't planning on joining the Grey Wardens."

Danella laughed, "oh no, your majesty, but when I was younger, my brothers and I played at being them, especially when there was a darkspawn sighting."

Catte interrupted before the looks of respect for Danella turned to resentment. "Lady Danella and I are considering sparing this afternoon in the practice field, but I promise you, your majesty, I will not recruit the only daughters of nobles."

"Well I am certain you two will enjoy yourselves, Warden Commander. And Lady Danella, please send my regards to your father." The King dismissed them, but his gaze remained on Catte a bit longer than necessary before returning his attention back to the noble who had been delivering a will for the Crown's seal.

"Your majesty." Danella managed a half courtesy before Catte had pulled her around and walked towards the doorway leading to the residences of the nobility who didn't have estates in Denerim. "You are a delight, Danella. Please send a message to me if you wish to spar. Or even just talk again." Catte smiled at her and leaned down to whisper, "head's up, the others are going to want your attentions, ignore the ones who were mean to you when you first arrived." She winked and walked through the door.

As soon as she entered the hallway she froze. She had no idea where the Warden apartments were and found herself not wanting to ask with so many lesser nobles wandering around. She had decided to go down the middle hallway when a familiar voice called her name. She turned around and smiled at Corin. 

"How's your aunt?" She figured that he had probably been splitting his time with her and Sabin and since Sabin was more than likely in their rooms, Corin had been with Feritta.

"She's fine. Where's your cloak, Catte?" He bumped against her shoulder.

"I thought it was a little much." She thread her arm through his.

Corin rolled his eyes at her, "honestly, I don't know why I try."

"Because I'm your Commander?" She offered up as a suggestion.

"Well, sure, I guess, but clearly that won't get me very far if you won't wear the cloak."  
She knew, on a logical level, that a Warden Commander shouldn't have favorites, but she couldn't help herself from being charmed by the sweet young man.

"How's Sabin?" 

"I can't believe you asked how my aunt was before one of your own Wardens." Corin chided her good-naturedly.

"I figured that he was in good hands. So how is he doing?" Her tone switched to its serious pitch.

"Better than expected, worse than we hoped for." Corin leaned in closer so that he could speak softly without actually whispering. "Duncan's been stomping around since he got back this morning. I finally couldn't take it so I left."

"It's not you or Sabin, it's me. He isn't exactly pleased with me." She squeezed his arm. "Come on, take me to them."

The two wardens walked down the left hallway towards the end. As they passed each group of gossiping nobles, they were welcomed with the cool walls of silence. She had expected as much, but it still bothered her. She noticed that Corin didn't seem to even be aware of the chilly quiet and silently hoped that she at least appeared not to notice either.

"Will the King hold a court dinner for you again?"

"Gods, I hope not. The last one wasn't exactly the fete of the season." She looked over and saw his smirk. "What do you know, Corin?"

"Me, nothing at all." He actually started whistling.

"Don't make me order you to tell me."

"A messenger stopped by the shop while I was there. He wants something even more stunning than the white one."

"Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd think that man had a death wish for Loghain." She realized that Corin had stopped her in front of a door. "And for the record, if I have to go, the three of you will be there too, so you might want to spend some time with your Aunt coming up with something spectacular for yourselves."

"Oh, I'm already working on it, Commander." He grinned at her, "I'm thinking Duncan needs some big poofy sleeves."

Catte couldn't help herself, she laughed. It was one of the few times that she allowed herself the freedom to laugh from her stomach, fully and completely, when people other than Wardens could hear her.

Duncan must have heard the laugh because he pulled the door open and glared at her. As soon as she was inside and the door closed, he let loose. "Where were you?"

"I was evading a marriage negotiation." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Corin was racing towards one of the bedrooms, never liking it when Duncan and Catte argued, even when they were just trying to debate an issue to find the best solution. It made him uncomfortable. But the words marriage and negotiation were enough for him to brave the disquiet of hearing "mom and dad" fight.

"He didn't really propose, did he?" Duncan was torn between disbelief and shock.

"No, it was Loghain."

Corin completely gave up any pretense of pretending not to listen and stared at Catte. Duncan tried to form a few words, but nothing seemed to come out.

"I went to talk to him after breakfast." She raised a hand to stop Duncan before he even started to lecture her. "I needed to ask him a question and I gave him some information in the hopes that he will then share some information with me."

"You think he'd actually share information with a Warden, much less you?" Duncan forgot the marriage proposal for a moment.

"In this case, yes."

Corin was still fixated on the marriage part of the admission. "And the Teyrn suggested you marry the King?"

Duncan and Catte both looked at Corin, who had the grace to at least look slightly ashamed of himself. Unfortunately the next words out of his mouth belied his contrition. "Really, he thought you should marry the King?"

"Yes. He pointed out that it actually wasn't a bad idea after I promised him that my goal wasn't to become the next Queen of Ferelden." Catte flopped down on one of the chairs in the room.

"Why would he suggest that?" Duncan sat down across from her.

Catte looked into his dark eyes, "because the heir is not exactly what they hoped for. He mentioned a spare. A Warden spare." She let the word warden drag out.

Duncan closed his eyes. "Corin, check on Sabin and please close the door." Once they heard the door close, Duncan opened his eyes. "Think he's listening?"

"Of course he is. Wouldn't you be listening if you were in his shoes?"

"Do we go to your rooms?"

Catte shook her head, "would raise too many questions." She looked to the one window in the room. It had been a while since she had shimmied up a wall, but what better time to see how out of practice she was.

Duncan followed her gaze and was opening the window, looking around the sill and walls. He stuck his head back in the room and nodded. Without a word to one another they dropped from sight and slid out as silently as possible. Duncan went first and Catte followed behind him, using the same grips as him. She had the presence of mind to at least close the window with a foot, but she couldn't latch it closed. Eventually they made it to the top of the wall with Duncan pulling her over the ramparts. They stayed hidden as they walked along the top of the wall. 

"Does he know?" Duncan is clearly concerned.

"How the fuck do I know.?" It was disturbing on a whole new level to have a conversation with someone you couldn't see that wasn't just about shouting out battle signals. "The fact that I didn't run out of the room as soon as he mentioned it was a fucking miracle."

"I don't think he'd order an assassination, he loves Maric too much for that."

Catte chewed on her bottom lip. "Duncan, he brought up the idea of a spare, not me. I think they're both worried about Cailan. What if they want to ensure succession."

"Did you say anything?"

"No, just reminded him about Anora." She could hear Duncan stop moving and turned to look where she thought he was. "When I'm here, the King does more of the things he needs to do, but doesn't want to. Anora might be the same for Cailan." Catte tried to grab at his arm, but grabbed his chest instead. "Duncan, she will kill us, and I am not talking figuratively here, she will flay us if she ever found out that we didn't stop him from being in line for the throne.

"We can't take him, Catte. You and I both know that. As much as we want to, we can't."

"Please, no mention of irony, I am fully aware of it cascading over me at this moment. But the only place I can think of that will keep him out of the line of succession and alive, is the Chantry, either as a lay brother or a Templar."

"Catte, if you thought she was going to kill us before, what do you think she'd do if she found out her son became a Templar?"

"Ok, fine, it was just an idea."

"Not a very good one."

She missed glaring at him where she could actually see him attempt to appear apologetic. Not that she every believed that he was, but it made her feel just a little better. "We're going to have to get an agent closer to him."

"They have him in the stables now, so either the stable or kennel master?" Duncan could hear her growl. He didn't like it either, but then he was an orphan, he knew what it was like to have nothing. Alistair at least had a roof over his head and food, more than most other orphans.

"Kennel master, We'll go through Teagan. He has a soft spot for the boy." She covered her eyes with her hand. "What if he doesn't know anything? Really, only Eamon, Maric, you, me, and Isolde, which I will admit is my fault, know. Eamon wouldn't have told him, you and I didn't tell him, that leaves Isolde or Maric. And honestly, Isolde might not be smart enough to understand the Warden interest." She was rambling, Catte often would when she stood on unsure ground. It was usually easier for her when he had a goal she could fixate on.

"I'll talk to Teagan this afternoon. What are your plans?" Duncan was leading her back towards the part of the wall they had climbed up.

"Aside from avoiding Loghain in case he can suddenly read minds?"

"Well that goes without saying really."

"Nothing, we do what we would normally do and that means practicing in the field." Catte shimmied back down the wall, kicked the window open and slipped into the rooms. As soon as she was clear of the window, she reappeared.

Duncan wasn't far behind her when Corin popped out from Sabin's room. "There you are, I was beginning to worry."

"Let's see if we can't rummage up some practice leathers, I want all of us in the field training this afternoon." Catte ignored Corin's complaint and nodded toward Duncan before heading out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

Ten days was a long time for the four wardens. The first few days seemed to pass relatively quickly, Corin introduced Sabin to Feritta and Duncan and Catte spent time lifting documents out of the archive that revealed more about the Grey Wardens than either was comfortable. Catte had dinners with Maric, and occasionally Cailan would join them, but only at her insistence, and Loghain tried to keep Maric's days busy with meetings and appointments.

It was the fourth day in Denerim when the dam burst. Catte was literally pacing the hallways, she went out of her way to attract the attentions of nobles just so she could passively insult them. Corin was trying hard not to get into trouble with his old friends, but he always liked an opportunity for a good lifting. Sabin rarely left the palace in case he might run into a Templar. And Duncan was twitching every time he saw an orphan and wanted to find a reason to recruit him.

Maric must have realized that an explosion was about to happen because he actually called her to his rooms during the day. Catte walked in and was surprised to see Duncan waiting already. She lifted an eyebrow at him, but no one spoke. It wasn't until Corin and Sabin entered the antechamber, literally tripping over one another in hopes of not actually being the first one into the King's rooms.

Maric cleared his throat. "When Catte was visiting last time, we made a point of sparring."

Corin couldn't help himself, he leaned over and whispered to Duncan, "if he's called us here to boast about his prowess in the bedroom with the Commander…"

Duncan just elbowed him into silence.

Maric either didn't here or deliberately ignored Corin as he continued, "it's a nice change of pace to practice with someone who wants to win. Catte tells me that when you practice at your keep, you don't hold back. If Sabin is up for it, I recommend that I join you this afternoon." He pointed them to the combat armor on the stands in the far side of the room. "I took the liberty of having some of your gear upgraded, so to speak."

A knock at the door interrupted the rest of his speech and to servants entered holding a massive tray full of food.

"After lunch of course."

The Wardens didn't even hesitate before all four dove into the food. Catte looked up at Maric's face and smirked, speaking around a mouth full of bread and cheese. "Sometimes I feel like you just put food in front of me because it's entertaining for you."

"He can put me in a dress and make me dance around hall if it means I can eat like this." Corin offered.

Duncan leaned back in his chair, picking at pieces of cheese and fruit. "It's not like we actually starve you."

"No, but we don't get food this good." Sabin agreed with Corin.

Maric eyed the foursome. Even when he was in his twenties, he couldn't eat what they ate without working out in the practice fields. The Wardens ability to consume food was recognized throughout the land. Nobles who hosted them, often complained that the Wardens staying for a few days could cost more than a month's supply of food without the Warden. 

"Ground rules?" Catte looked at Duncan.

"All of them against us?" 

"Sabin's out of combat, so that will be Maric and Corin against you and me." Catte reminded him.

Corin wasn't sure what was worse, fighting with Maric or against him. A quick look around the table and he made his decision. "The Commander and the King against the most senior and junior Wardens?"

Maric decided that the debate was over and that he was more than satisfied with the results. "Sounds fair." He ventured a cautious hand into the food and placed some of it onto a plate before settling down in his chair. "So that just leaves arrangements for the Court Dinner."

"You really want to try again?" Catte paused from eating to stare at him. "Wasn't the last one enough of a fiasco?"

"If you want a Templar so badly, you must at least pretend to be gracious to the King who is helping to supply you one." Maric couldn't hide amusement from either his voice or eyes.

Corin noticed it and looked between Duncan and Sabin. "Ever get the feeling that you hid in the shadows and never actually appeared, but are instead still there?"

Sabin murmured into his mug of wine, "If I could disappear like you lot, I would have done it already."

"In three night's time, we will have a court dinner in honor of the Grey Wardens." It was a statement.

Catte raised her eyebrow, but remained silent. The three other Wardens looked at her. A quiet Catte was not normal, especially when their Warden Commander had just received an order. She turned her attentions to them and like any smart warden, they all returned to their food with a brand new enthusiasm.

~

Maric had to remind his guards and soldiers, that the spar they were about to watch was going to draw blood, but they shouldn't be worried. The intent wasn't to kill, but fighting in the world wasn't about scoring points or cute tactics, it was about working with those around you to take down your foe with the least amount of damage and effort. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Catte and Duncan were negotiating tactics when Maric returned to the circle.

"We need boundaries put in place, your Majesty." Catte was aware of the amount of ears surrounding them.

Duncan intervened, preventing the King from looking confused in front of his men. "If we're going to go all out, then we can't have anyone crossing lines we have established as boundaries. If they do, they could be seriously injured, or killed."

"It also makes Sabin's job a lot harder. If he has to worry about a too enthusiastic audience, he can't do his job." Corin helpfully pointed out.

Maric nodded his head, "Warden Commander, you push back your admirers and I'll take care of the guards."

The King and Warden headed towards the fence line, explaining that unless they wanted to risk a lost nose or ear, they would stay back. Catte also added that if any of the group made it close to the fence line, a step back might be prudent. They wouldn't be able to pull any strikes. By the time the two had returned to the center, a tension was flying about the sparring rings. Catte noticed that Loghain had even been interested enough to venture down. She elbowed Maric and nodded to the Teyrn.

"Perhaps we should invite him to join? They say he's remarkable with that two-handed sword of his?"

"I tried, but perhaps you could convince him?" Maric smiled at her.

"Teyrn!" Catte accept the challenge and trotted back to the fence line and Loghain. "We thought that perhaps you might join us? Duncan and Corin could use a warrior on their side. Or perhaps you might consider siding with the King and facing the three Wardens?"

Loghain's eyes narrowed. He could decline a request from the King, but not the Warden Commander, not in front of an audience. He responded by jumping the fence and heading to the salle. Catte looked over to the group in the field and made a surprised but happy face at them before trotting after Loghain.

Before he could protest, Catte pushed his hands away and buckled him into his armor. "We're going all out. Don't hold back. No mortal strikes of course, but don't hesitate to draw blood."

"Why would you do that? Besides the whole glory thing?" Loghain was double checking her work and frustrated that he couldn't find any faults.

"Honestly? It's more for Sabin. Once you see him, you'll know exactly why the Circle was willing to cross so many to get him back." Catte made fast work of his armor, better than most squires and Loghain grunted his approval. She actually smiled at him. "We don't have squires, Loghain. We help each other with our armor and if we screw it up, it could mean the death of a brother or sister." She patted his leg as she finished his greaves

The two left the salle, Catte leading Loghain towards the others. "The Teyrn will stand with Duncan and Corin." She pointed a dagger at Duncan. "No fuck me's…"

Duncan smirked "but holy shits are fine?" He spun a dagger similarly to the way Catte did. It was all for show, but it was impressive nonetheless.

It took a while for everyone to fall into roles, but eventually the five fighters slipped into the trance where fighting became a dance. It was fearsome and beautiful, but ugly as well. Their strikes rang clear and muscles were strained, and yet they continued. The rogues slid easily from certain kill strikes, and the warriors pushed forward, neither gaining nor losing ground.

All five were bloodied and bruised, and yet they persevered. Catte noticed that she was just a little bit faster than Corin, just a tiny bit quicker. She got him down and gave him a blow they had agreed beforehand to be a killing strike. Once they were down to two versus two, Catte and Duncan flickered out of sight. She was over-confident and got too close to Loghain, attempting to make a strike to his side, but he was more than a good strategist, he was also an accomplished swordsman. He followed through with a strike deflected by Maric's shield and the fact that the sword went up was the only thing preventing Catte from being bisected. His hands and hilt contacted with her should and she went down with a yelp. Actually she flew behind him from the impact. Simultaneously coming into view and landing on the ground with a grunt of pain and chagrin. People had actually witnessed her yelp.

Duncan came to her for the strike, pinning her arms with his knees, dagger to her throat. Loghain and Maric stopped to stare at Duncan. Under normal circumstances, the fallen would be helped back up, but this wasn't normal circumstances and the King had wanted to see how the Wardens trained.

Catte closed her eyes. "Score." Duncan released her and looked at Maric. He wouldn't be able to stand against both Loghain and Duncan, at least not for long. Catte stood up and rubbed her shoulder while walking over to Corin.

"The great Warden Commander gets dropped by an accident?"

"At least I took you out first."

The King was laughing, "Alright, alright, I yield." Duncan and Loghain were slowly approaching on the King.

Sabin dropped his concentration as soon as he heard the word 'yield' and Corin rushed to the healer, offering support.

"You're too skilled Teyrn, I wasn't expecting that follow through." Catte smiled.

The four headed to the salle, the warriors needed to be divested of their plate, and the rogues wanted to get out of the leather as well.

"Unbelievable, I know I got hits in and got hit, and yet there is little blood or bruising that I can tell." Maric was peering at Loghain's face.

"Sabin is pretty remarkable, no?" Catte held the door open for the others before stepping in behind them.

Without thought of those in the room, they started stripping off their outer layers. Catte winced and looked down at her shoulder. She was grateful that it was her left shoulder he hit, but it still hurt. Maric, still halfway in armor, pulled her to him so that he could examine the shoulder.

"That is one ugly bruise, Loghain."

The Teyrn smirked, he would agree that the fighting was remarkable, more akin to a battle than a spar, and a better workout than he had managed in a long time. "She asked me to play with you."

The King looked down at Catte and immediately went to a chest along the wall. He pulled a linen shirt from it and threw it to her. Her own linen was soaked in sweat and nearly transparent. She pulled the shirt on, not bothering to take off the other shirt. Maric noticed that she didn't lift her left arm and held it close to her body.

Catte grinned at Duncan, who smiled back at her. Sparring was fun, but fighting was exhilarating. They stripped the rest of the plate from the King and Teyrn and hobbled to the door. All four took a deep breath, straightened their shoulders and stepped out of the salle with smiles. Sabin and Corin joined them as they headed back to the palace, all six with plastered smiles on their faces. It wasn't until they got past the Hall and were behind the closed doors of the royal wing that Catte, Loghain and Maric let the façade crumble. They limped, slumped and groaned back to their quarters. Duncan, Corin and Sabin actually had to keep the façade going until they got to their apartments, but once their door closed, they all collapsed on whatever furniture they were closest to.

~

Maric winced as he placed some of the treasured ice wrapped in a towel against Catte's shoulder. "My little Catte.." He kissed her bare shoulder, like that could make the bruise go away.

"I'll see Sabin tomorrow and he’ll take care of it." She smiled. "He needs the rest more than I need to not have a bruise." She had taken a bath and hadn't bothered to put on more than a linen shirt and a pair of loose linen pants belonging to the king. She had rolled up the cuffs, and despite being several sizes too large for her, they were comfortable. 

Maric had ordered several of the grilled cheese sandwiches brought to his room for dinner and sent over twice as many to the other Wardens. He had even sent a few to Loghain, although he didn't think that the Teyrn would enjoy them as much.

"I still can't believe this is the worst of the injuries. I know for a fact that I heard a bone snap and my blade hit flesh." Maric held a portion of the sandwich out to Catte to bite.

"Sabin's remarkable. I didn't fully realize what he was capable of until I was working with two others." She took the bite and chewed slowly, crafting the next thing she was about to say as she chewed. "It's a wonder that the Chantry didn't try to get him sooner."

"I've worked with healers before, Catte, and with the exception of older and more experienced healers, I've never come across one like him."

"The way he explained it to me was that there are demons and spirits in the Fade and that the spirits can help as much as the demons can harm." She bit her bottom lip, debating whether or not to share more information about her healer. "He can heal us all at the same time. That's why it's so exhausting. He literally tosses a regeneration spell on all of us and then when it gets too much, he heals us all at the same time, regardless if we need it or not."

Maric exhaled slowly. "Maker's breath, Catte." He ran his hands through his hair.

"Would you prefer Warden Secrets instead?"

"Sometimes, yes." He pressed the ice back against her arm.


	11. Chapter 11

Catte couldn't believe that three days could pass as quickly as the past three did. But there she was, lying naked on her bed while Corin chastised her for every movement. He showed up at her door with a jar of some gold liquid and a paint brush and before she could protest, he was painting the liquid onto her back. Whatever she had expected when the young Warden had offered to help her get ready, this was not it.

"Can we at least take a break so I can eat something?"

"No. Now stop talking." Corin's comment was hindered by the paintbrush held between his lips. "I wanted to use your symbol, but let's face it, you aren't exactly brawny, so you're stuck with the Warden's symbol." Catte figured that he must have pulled the paintbrush out since she heard the second part of his commentary very clearly.

"My symbol is the Warden's sigil."

"Stop talking. And I meant the Warden Commander sigil."

Finally, he allowed Catte to stand, but stopped her when she reached for her robe. "It has to dry, Commander."

She grumbled and grabbed a sheet from the bed, holding it up to her chest. However, it did not hinder her from pouncing on the platter of fruit. Fresh fruit was luxury, especially for Wardens, and since Maric was footing the cost of feeding the Wardens, she freely took advantage. 

"Sit down at the dressing table, we're going to do your hair." Corin once more took charge, although he did permit her the handful of cherries she brought with her. 

With careful hands he brushed her hair out, watchful for any stray strands of hair that might get stuck on the artwork painted onto her back. "There were comments that your dress at the last event looked painted on, so I thought that we should give them something painted on." He pulled her hair back into a ponytail and fastened it at the nape of her neck, then let it fall down over the front of her shoulder.

"You cannot seriously be considering painting me and sending me into court." She noted the distance of her dagger to her hand and calculated the time it would take to point it at Corin's stem.

"Please, Commander, that's too flashy, even for me." He pulled her hair back and began to loosely twist it up. Satisfied, he started to fasten it. "Make it look like you don't try."

"That's what your aunt said." Catte sucked on the stone from the last cherry.

"Who do you think she learned it from?" Corin looked at her face in the mirror and winked. Catte couldn't help herself, she laughed.

Apparently he wasn't satisfied with her hair, because he let the pony tail out, but held it into place and then flipped it up, refastening it with a pin at the top of her head. The effect was that her hair was shorter than it actually was, still in a ponytail, but the end barely came of the nape of her neck.

"Perfect. Now, one final touch." He took one of the cherries from the table and bit it in half. With the remainder, he brushed it across Catte's lips, staining them a very dark red. He leaned back against the dressing table and looked at her. "Catte, if I liked women, there would be no way I could resist you."

She smirked at him, but had to admit to herself that he really was very talented. Since, according to Corin, she still wasn't dry, they spent the next hour drinking wine and talking. She eventually circled the conversation to Sabin and waited for Corin to fill her in. When he wasn't forthcoming, she became more direct with her questioning until he gave in and admitted that perhaps the newly made Wardens were enjoying the time they were able to spend together.

"Don't hurt him, Corin. I don't know what happened in the Circle. I don't think I want to know actually."

"Don't worry. I have a feeling the little Healer will break my heart before I break his." 

"Good, I can always find another rogue."

"Yes, but can you find one with my taste?" He waggled his finger at her.

"No," Catte released and overly dramatic sigh. "Unfortunately we will lose our place as the most fashionable outpost.

Corin grinned. "I need to go make sure that the others are appropriately attired. Feritta should be here to help you dress, Commander." He stood up and kissed her cheek before heading out the door.

~

Catte stared at the open box on the dressing table. One of Maric's messengers had delivered it while Feritta was there so it wasn't until after the seamstress had left that Catte was able to open the box. Inside was a golden amulet in the shape of the double griffon. The amulet was easily the size of her hand and the eyes were sapphires as large as one of her finger nails. She didn't know how to feel about the gift. She had never actually received a gift before, at least not a gift like this. The ethics of accepting the gift scared her – did it mean that she was beholden to the King outside of the bedroom? Or perhaps the gift was just a gift. After waging a war within her mind, she gave in. Her hands actually shook as she fastened the chain around her neck. The amulet hit right at the top of her sternum. She stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror.

Feritta had created another masterpiece. Once more the gown was silk, but was a platinum color. The neckline went to her collar bone and the dress itself didn't hug her body the way the white gown had. It didn't have any sleeves, which surprised her, she didn't think women of Ferelden ever bared their arms, and it also lacked a back, the fabric not starting again until the base of her spine. She understood why Corin had painted the griffon onto her back, it gave the illusion of not being bare. Instead of a long train, the gown pooled at her feet, covering the flat shoes held to her feet with silk ribbons wrapping up her legs.

She pulled the shawl from the dressing table and wrapped it over her arms. The griffon on her back would be hidden until after dinner. At least that's what Corin had told her, and while she was good at making entrance, he was better at keeping the audience guessing. Catte couldn't put off leaving the room any longer. She headed out the door and straight into Maric's chest. 

"Oh, Maric, I didn't… I thought that…" She hated the way that he could tangle her tongue.

He chuckled at her slight distress. "You look beautiful, Catte." His fingertips pressed against the amulet. "Thank you." Maric leaned down and brushed his lips against her cheek.

Catte closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of soap. "Come, your Majesty, your adoring Court awaits the opportunity to gossip about your Warden Commander." She whispered.

He took her arm through his and guided them towards the doors to the Great Hall. As with the previous Court dinner, they were introduced together. She bowed her head as the rest of the room bowed and curtsied, except for the other three Wardens. They bowed their heads just as she did. Maric led her to the dais and her chair before finally taking his so that the rest of the room could sit down. 

Catte was surprised to see that the Couslands had arrived at Court and even more surprised to see the Arl and Arlessa of Redcliffe present. It looked as though almost every Arl, with the exception of Arl Wulff had found a way to race to Court. Her Wardens were sitting with the Arls, and Catte hid a laugh behind her wine when she saw their attire. They were all dressed in a darker shade than her gown and though the clothing was clearly not armor, it was cut to resemble their armor. 

Poor Cailan wasn't in attendance, no children were, apparently they were holding their own courtly dinner in another room, under the watchful eyes of tutors and nurses. As Catte looked around the room, she wished she was at their dinner, it was probably more fun.

Conversation at the high table was bland as usual, no one gossiped near the King. Not that Maric didn't care for gossip, it was just unseemly. Catte turned to Eleanor Cousland, "Teyrna, could you tell me anything about the Arl of West Hill's daughter?"

Eleanor jumped in and praised the young woman. The compliments seemed genuine and Eleanor was surprised that the woman hadn't been betrothed yet. However she thought that had more to do with the fact that there were brothers to consider and that Danella wasn't thought to be as charming as some of the other women at court.

When Catte shifted the conversation to Teagan, the Teyrna put one and one together. "Why don't you stop by our Estate in Denerim tomorrow, Warden Commander, I am sure that my daughter and son would love a chance to see you again. We'll have lunch, perhaps you might bring Danella. I know her parents aren't here, it must be lonely for the girl." And without missing a beat, she turned to her husband. "Bryce, didn't you want to talk to Teagan about crops? Don't you think tomorrow after lunch would be a good time?" Eleanor winked conspiratorially at Catte.

Catte mentally checked one item off her list, Danella might not be a Warden, but she was a Warden ally.

The banquet was presented to the King with great fanfare and Catte's mouth watered at the sight. There were several roasted birds, which when carved revealed a bird inside a bird inside a bird. Pheasents inside hens inside ducks inside turkeys inside geese.

"Your Majesty, your cook has outdone himself." Catte eyed the food.

"He refused to make cheese sandwiches, however," Maric pointed to one of the side dishes, toasted bread with gourmet cheese melted on top, "he compromised."

Catte laughed before she could stop herself and garnered a few odd looks. "I am honored, your majesty."

She managed to sit patiently through the presentation of plates, barely. And Maric wasn't helping, he was teasing her by deliberately not starting his meal. She glanced over at her Wardens. Both Sabin and Corin looked like they were going to fall over if they couldn't start eating soon; Duncan was the only one maintaining a small amount of control, but then she realized he was actually sitting on his hands.

Catte leaned towards the King and whispered, "you are not only torturing me, but three of my Wardens and I won't be held responsible if they storm the kitchens."

Maric smirked at her and pressed his leg against her, wrapping his foot around her ankle. She raised an eyebrow at him, and it seemed to be enough for him to relent. He took a bite of his meal and the Wardens followed almost immediately.

"How often do you have dinners like this?" Catte was curious and while her question wasn't the most tactful, it was the easiest way to get answers.

"Probably one ever week or so. The lesser nobles seem to get into less trouble the more often we have them." Maric didn't seem to mind the events.

Catte worked on her meal while she contemplated his comment. The way Maric seemed to enjoy eating in his rooms wither, she had thought that these little Court dinners would be a rare occurrence. She had clearly been mistaken. She continued her wanderings, trying to define Maric in some way that reconciled him with her changing expectations and couldn't. She bit the tip of her tongue, holding it in the corner of her mouth.

Maric leaned down to her and spoke quietly. "Trying to decide which bit of food to eat next?"

She felt his breath against her ear and neck and returned from her thoughts. "Trying to decide which I like best, to save for last." She recovered enough to smile pleasantly at him.

Loghain interrupted whatever Maric might have said next with a question about some disagreement between Banns and Catte used the opportunity to push her thoughts into the corner of her mind. Instead she focused on the food in front of her. She found herself speaking with Bryce Cousland again, thanking him for his hospitality.

"Teyrn Cousland, I was actually looking over some records and I realized something. Almost every Warden in our Order from Ferelden has some time to Highever."

"I must be a hard taskmaster if so many are willing to join the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you lot never seem to rest." Bryce smiled politely at her.

"I would prefer to believe that those from Highever have a greater appreciation of just what being a Grey Warden means."

When Eleanor asked how the recruits were doing, Catte tried to answer as generally as possible. She wasn't sure if the Couslands would know of Barlin, but Wardens did not notify kin when a recruit of Warden died. Their name was struck from a ledger, added to another, and their bodies lost. Some were buried in unmarked graves, some burned, but most left somewhere underground in the Deep Roads. Catte had left Barlin to Avernus. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of, but if it helped Avernus, and that helped the Wardens, it was necessary. In death sacrifice.

"And of Dragon's Peak, Warden Commander? I trust that you are being treated fairly?"

"Teyrn, your vassals reflect you well."

"Vassals? And here I thought that the Warden Commander was above politics?" Maric leaned into the conversation. "I noted that there was a small pup chasing after your daughter, Teyrn, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Warden Commander?"

Catte actually grinned. "I tried to give him to Loghain first, besides, what little girl doesn't want a puppy?" 

Somehow, to Catte's chagrin, Maric had mastered the art of touching her without anyone realizing it. His hand was running the length of her thigh, hidden beneath the table of course, while she tried to maintain the casual chatter of children and puppies and whether it was little girls or little boys.

At some secret signal, the banquet tables were cleared away and the musicians began to play a soft tune. Catte managed not to groan. "Is it that time again, your Majesty?"

Maric chuckled at her, "The Warden Commander likes to pretend that she has an aversion to dancing."

The King stood and Catte stole a quick glance to Corin before she took his hand and pulled herself up. She let the shawl fall, baring her arms to the Hall for the first time. The whispers were at least hushed. But once Maric had led her to the center of the Hall they grew louder. Women, especially women at Court, did not show their skin in Ferelden. Catte stood taller under their scrutiny and pushed her shoulders back before looking up at Maric almost defiantly. 

The volume of the music grew, and Maric pulled her towards him as he led her around the floor. "Are you testing me, my little Catte?" If she hadn't of seen his eyes and the amusement they held, his words might have been a warning.

"And why would I do that, Maric?" She made an attempt to smile innocently, without much success from the predatory grin he gave her.

And then she heard the word griffon from the whispers. A gentle reminder to the gossping biddies, that she wasn't a woman. She was a Warden.

"And now I understand the wrap, I thought it was part of the gown." Maric smirked at her. "And here, you said you had no sense of style."

"I also said that I didn't like dancing." 

Their teasing was innocent enough to anyone who might overhear them, but nonetheless, Catte was conscious of the volume of her voice. Eventually the others joined them on the dance floor and Maric and Catte retreated back to the high table. She even managed to evade Loghain's glare as she settled smugly into her chair. What she wasn't prepared for was Maric's hand back on her thigh, just above her knee. She could feel his fingers pressing possessively into her flesh and she stifled the shiver threatening to free itself.

At some point, Maric waved over Duncan and had a chair pulled up to the other side of Catte's. It meant that her own chair was pushed closer to Maric's. They spoke of unimportant topics: weather, horses, costs of market goods, and anything else that wasn't about darkspawn, Wardens, or the Deep Roads. Through it all, Maric kept his hand on her leg. Belatedly she realized that he was preventing her from going anywhere. She couldn't excuse herself to find trouble under the pretense of speaking to others.

At least the King had been considerate enough to have platters of fruit placed on the tables. Catte helped herself to the berries, remembering to interject the appropriate, or at least near appropriate comments. She eventually resigned herself to her situation, and from Duncan's apparently endless well of topics for conversation, this was a planned imprisonment between the two. She viciously bit into a piece of fruit and meticulously planned out how she was going to conquer them once she divided them.


	12. Chapter 12

Catte couldn't believe that three days could pass as quickly as the past three did. But there she was, getting dressed in yet another gown designed by Feritta. This one was completely different though. This gown had no sleeves and no back. The neckline went to her collar bone and the skirt just pooled at the bottom. There was no train and it wasn't as formfitting as the white gown. The new gown was made from pewter colored silk and Catte was actually nervous about wearing it. She honestly didn't know whose idea it was, Feritta's or Corin's, but she was inclined to believe that it was a combination of the two.

Opting for simplicity, Catte had pulled her hair up into a ponytail high on her head. There was only one thing that remained. Catte looked at the open box on the dressing table. One of Maric's messengers had delivered it while Feritta was there so it wasn't until after the seamstress had left that Catte was able to open the box. 

Inside was a golden amulet in the shape of the double griffon. The amulet was easily the size of her hand and the eyes were sapphires as large as one of her finger nails. She didn't know how to feel about the gift. She had never actually received a gift before, at least not a gift like this. The ethics of accepting the gift scared her – did it mean that she was beholden to the King outside of the bedroom? Or perhaps the gift was just a gift. After waging a war within her mind, she gave in. Her hands actually shook as she fastened the chain around her neck. The amulet hit right at the top of her sternum just below her collar bone. She stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror.

Catte couldn't put off leaving the room any longer. She headed out the door and straight into Maric's chest. 

"Oh, Maric, I didn't… I thought that…" She hated the way that he could tangle her tongue.

He chuckled at her slight distress, but when he looked down at her gown his eyes widened. "You do like to cause a stir, don't you Catte?" 

"I had no hand in this. Feritta dressed me." Unable to resist she turned for him to see the gown in its entirety. When she saw his expression, she found herself glad that the Royal Guards weren't at her end of the hallway.

"You do test me, my little Warden Commander." He almost groaned. Whether it was from frustration at predicting the Court's response or not being able to bypass dinner all together, Catte didn't know.

His gaze lingered on the necklace and he pressed his fingertips against the amulet. "Thank you." Maric leaned down and brushed his lips against her cheek.

"Feritta left a wrap, in case…" She looked back over her shoulder. "Should I get it?"

"Yes. It will at least keep Loghain quiet." He smoothed the velvet down over his jacket, unbuttoning just a few of the buttons at the bottom.

When Catte returned, a piece of fabric, was wrapped around her arms in such a way to look like sleeves and fit snuggly across her back to hide the expanse of skin. She grinned at him, "better?"

"Not particularly from my point of view, but definitely from the perspective of the people waiting on us."

She wrapped her arm through his and leaned against him, closing her eyes for a moment as the scent of his soap slipped past her senses. "They are waiting you, your Majesty. I am merely the fodder for the gossip which keeps your Court interested in staying in Denerim."

Maric guided her to doors to the Great Hall. As with the previous Court dinner, they were introduced together. She bowed her head as the rest of the room bowed and curtsied, except for the other three Wardens. They bowed their heads just as she did. Maric led her to the dais and her chair before finally taking his so that the rest of the room could sit down. 

Catte was surprised to see that the Couslands had arrived at Court and even more surprised to see the Arl and Arlessa of Redcliffe present. It looked as though almost every Arl, with the exception of Arl Wulff had found a way to race to Court. Her Wardens were sitting with the Arls, and Catte hid a laugh behind her wine when she saw their attire. They were all dressed in a darker shade than her gown and though the clothing was clearly not armor, it was cut to resemble their armor. The message was clear, to her at least, the Wardens might dress for the occasion, but they were still Wardens.

Poor Cailan wasn't in attendance, no children were, apparently they were holding their own courtly dinner in another room, under the watchful eyes of tutors and nurses. As Catte looked around the room, she wished she was at their dinner, it was probably more fun.

Conversation at the high table was bland as usual, no one gossiped near the King. Not that Maric didn't care for gossip, it was just unseemly. Catte turned to Eleanor Cousland, "Teyrna, could you tell me anything about the Arl of West Hill's daughter?"

Eleanor jumped in and praised the young woman. The compliments seemed genuine and Eleanor was surprised that the woman hadn't been betrothed yet. However she thought that had more to do with the fact that there were brothers to consider and that Danella wasn't thought to be as charming as some of the other women at court.

When Catte shifted the conversation to Teagan, the Teyrna put one and one together. "Why don't you stop by our Estate in Denerim tomorrow, Warden Commander, I am sure that my daughter and son would love a chance to see you again. We'll have lunch, perhaps you might bring Danella. I know her parents aren't here, it must be lonely for the girl." And without missing a beat, she turned to her husband. "Bryce, didn't you want to talk to Teagan about crops? Don't you think tomorrow after lunch would be a good time?" Eleanor winked conspiratorially at Catte.

Catte mentally checked one item off her list, Danella might not be a Warden, but she was a Warden ally.

The banquet was presented to the King with great fanfare and Catte's mouth watered at the sight. There were several roasted birds, which when carved revealed a bird inside a bird inside a bird. Pheasents inside hens inside ducks inside turkeys inside geese.

"Your Majesty, your cook has outdone himself." Catte eyed the food.

"He refused to make cheese sandwiches, however," Maric pointed to one of the side dishes, toasted bread with gourmet cheese melted on top, "he compromised."

Catte laughed before she could stop herself and garnered a few odd looks. "I am honored, your majesty."

She managed to sit patiently through the presentation of plates, barely. And Maric wasn't helping, he was teasing her by deliberately not starting his meal. She glanced over at her Wardens. Both Sabin and Corin looked like they were going to fall over if they couldn't start eating soon; Duncan was the only one maintaining a small amount of control, but then she realized he was actually sitting on his hands.

Catte leaned towards the King and whispered, "you are not only torturing me, but three of my Wardens and I won't be held responsible if they storm the kitchens."

Maric smirked at her and pressed his leg against hers under the table. She raised an eyebrow at him, and it seemed to be enough for him to relent. He took a bite of his meal and the Wardens followed almost immediately.

"How often do you have dinners like this?" Catte was curious and while her question wasn't the most tactful, it was the easiest way to get answers.

"Probably one ever week or so. The lesser nobles seem to get into less trouble the more often we have them." Maric shrugged, showing no inclination that Courtly dinners were a chore.

Catte worked on her meal while she contemplated his comment. The way Maric seemed to enjoy eating in his rooms with her, she had thought that these little Court dinners would be a rare occurrence. She had clearly been mistaken. She continued her wanderings, trying to define Maric in some way that reconciled him with her changing expectations and couldn't. She bit the tip of her tongue, holding it in the corner of her mouth.

Maric leaned down to her and spoke quietly. "Trying to decide which bit of food to eat next?"

She felt his breath against her ear and neck and returned from her thoughts. "Trying to decide which I like best, to save for last." She recovered enough to smile pleasantly at him.

Loghain interrupted whatever Maric might have said next with a question about some disagreement between Banns and Catte used the opportunity to push her thoughts into the corner of her mind. Instead she focused on the food in front of her. She found herself speaking with Bryce Cousland again, thanking him for his hospitality.

"Teyrn Cousland, I was actually looking over some records and I realized something. Almost every Warden in our Order from Ferelden has some time to Highever."

"I must be a hard taskmaster if so many are willing to join the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you lot never seem to rest." Bryce smiled politely at her.

"I would prefer to believe that those from Highever have a greater appreciation of just what being a Grey Warden means."

When Eleanor asked how the recruits were doing, Catte tried to answer as generally as possible. She wasn't sure if the Couslands would know of Barlin, but Wardens did not notify kin when a recruit of Warden died. Their name was struck from a ledger, added to another, and their bodies lost. Some were buried in unmarked graves, some burned, but most left somewhere underground in the Deep Roads. Catte had left Barlin to Avernus. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of, but if it helped Avernus, and that helped the Wardens, it was necessary. In death sacrifice.

"And of Dragon's Peak, Warden Commander? I trust that you are being treated fairly?"

"Teyrn, your vassals reflect you well."

"Vassals? And here I thought that the Warden Commander was above politics?" Maric leaned into the conversation. "I noted that there was a small pup chasing after your daughter, Teyrn, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Warden Commander?"

Catte actually grinned. "I tried to give him to Loghain first, besides, what little girl doesn't want a puppy?" 

Somehow, to Catte's chagrin, Maric had mastered the art of touching her without anyone realizing it. His hand was running the length of her thigh, hidden beneath the table of course, while she tried to maintain the casual chatter of children and puppies and whether it was little girls or little boys who liked puppies best.

As per usual, she maintained a casual observation of the room while trying to be interested in the conversation. She would have never caught the slight movement at the back of the hall, if it weren't for Loghain sitting up. Catte let her gaze follow his and then she saw it too. Two men, wearing what looked to be some sort of adaptation of Chantry robes, were looking right at the high table, specifically at the King.

They approached the table, looking for all the world to be men of the Church. Catte noted that the robes seemed to be bulkier than what one could expect from a brother, and while she wasn't positive, she though she saw the shadows of small swords under the robes. Hidden well to the casual observer, but she was studying them closely now.

Catte glanced at Loghain, from the tension in his body, he didn't like what he was seeing either. She returned her attention to the approaching men and made a quick calculation in her mind. She could spare the time to look at Duncan. Her fellow Warden nodded his head.

Somehow, a signal flashed between Duncan, Loghain, and Catte, or maybe it was just that the three were so used to fighting that it was an unconscious response to a cue they didn't realize they recognized. Loghain stood up first, but Catte and Duncan were right behind him. It was telling that the nobles at Court were more shocked about her gown than about the two men coming steadily closer to their King. Loghain and Catte were over the table before the strange men could pull free their weapons.

Catte could no longer see Duncan, but she knew he was there, hidden and moving behind the men. The men pulled their swords free and started a charge, shouting, "For Andraste!"

She didn't bother to wonder how Loghain had a sword in his hands, she only cared that he was about to swing and she knew his follow through wouldn't stop if she stood in its way. She ducked, pulled a dagger from his waist and struck the man in front of her between the ribs just as Loghain decapitated his friend. Duncan's dagger found purchase between the man's ribs as well, but from behind.

Catte focused only on the battle when fighting. She blocked out noises that didn't give her information she could use in the fight and it was only when Loghain and the two Wardens stepped back that she realized the Hall was full of screams, shouts, and overall general panic. Guardsmen and senior servants ran about, trying to calm everyone with varying degrees of success. The women were swept outside the hall quickly and easily, but the men were less pliant.

The King bellowed from behind Catte, "Everyone out. Now!"

Catte and Loghain stared impassively at the bodies and the growing pool of blood beneath them.

Occasionally one would look as if they were about to say something only to remain silent. 

Maric sat on his chair and stared at their backs while the entire court raced to get out of the hall first. Only the Wardens and guards remained.

Catte reached out her foot to nudge the body when Loghain stopped her. "You'll get blood on your dress."

"Oh, right, thanks." She lifted the hem of the dress and poked the young man's leg with her toe. They both heard the soft groan. He wasn't dead, he was just dying.

Maric watched them take a step backwards together and his brow furrowed. With the room empty, the King walked down the center of the Hall to them. "What's going on here?"

Loghain looked out of the corner of his eye at the Warden. "Well, the Warden Commander here ruffled the feathers of the Chantry, the Church seems to have taken a bit of offense and…" He spun around and raised his hands up questioningly. "What do you think happened, Maric? Two men somehow got in and were either trying to attack you or the Warden Commander or both. We responded when your guards did not." He glared around the room at the men. "And now there is blood literally staining your floor as we speak."

Before Loghain could continue with his rant, Catte elbowed his side.

He turned on her, "What?!"

She quietly cleared her throat and nodded to the body.

"Oh." Without thought he took the sword and severed the second man's head from his body. 

Maric stared at them in shock. "What is wrong with you two." His anger finally erupted and Loghain at least tried to look contrite. "In my study. Now." The King spoke through clenched teeth. He stormed out of the Hall and they could hear his progress to his rooms from the slamming of doors.

Corin and Sabin gaped at Catte, but Duncan intervened. "Go back to our apartments. I'll stay with the Commander." He had been hidden behind Loghain and Catte and somehow managed to escape the King's ire.

The young Wardens nodded in what looked like gratitude and couldn't seem to get out of the Hall fast enough.

Catte was trying to find something to do with her hands and finally just gave up, dropping her arms to her sides. "Maybe we should…"

Loghain closed his eyes and shook his head. He dropped the borrowed sword and just walked out the door

Duncan placed his hand in the middle of Catte's back and pushed her along after Loghain. She couldn't comprehend why Maric was so angry. Armed men entered the Great Hall with the intention of harming someone. She responded the way anyone with training should have. She looked down at her hand and the dagger. Loghain's dagger. Why did Loghain have a dagger? Screw the dagger, how had he gotten his hands on a two-handed sword as quickly as he had? While Catte's thoughts ran quickly through her mind, her feet trudged along slowly.


End file.
